Tragedy! Four dead, five rescued in Lagos building collapse, says LASEMA

No fewer than four persons died while five were rescued alive in the building collapse which occurred in the Lagos State on Saturday.

The Head of Public Affairs, Lagos State Emergency Agency, Nosa Okunbor, said this in a statement on Sunday.

The collapsed four-floor building occurred on Saturday at 4 Alayaki Lane, Lagos Island.

“After several hours of intense overnight Search and Rescue Operation coordinated by the Permanent Secretary LASEMA, Dr Oluwafemi Oke-Osanyintolu, and combined efforts of three LASEMA Response Teams from Lekki, Cappa and the Alausa Command Control Center, a total of five adult males were rescued (alive) and taken to nearest hospitals for further treatment.

“However, four adult males were recovered (dead), bagged and handed over to officials of the State Environmental Health Monitoring Unit, SEHMU to be processed further after being deposited at the mortuary.

“Remains of the self-collapsed four-floor building were then taken down to ground zero by the Agency with the use of its heavy-duty equipment-the Excavator, thereby eliminating any further threat to lives and all other proximal properties.

“Other primary responders present includes the LASAMBUS, LASG Fire Sevice, LABCA, SEHMU, Federal Fire Service, NEMA, Red Cross, LNSC and NPF

Also, the Zonal Coordinator South-West, National Emergency Management Agency, Mr Ibrahim Farinloye, said further investigation into the incident showed that the collapsed building under construction was located within a compound and it was a frame structure as of the time the incident happened.

He said that the third suspended slab concrete was already in place with ongoing internal partition.

The building crumbled during a downpour at about 1:45 p.m on Saturday.

“The building was bequeathed to the family members and some of the family members awarded it to a developer who was converting the bungalow building into a three-storey building before it collapsed,” Farinloye said.