Three storey building collapses in Lagos killing two
A three storey building located at No. 24, Daddy Alaja Street, off Issa Williams Street, in the Apongbon area of Lagos Island has collapsed killing two persons including a five year old girl.
The building, which is a residential structure, was undergoing renovation works when it collapsed at about 7 am on Monday.
The Daily Times gathered that although 14 persons have been rescued by men of the Lagos state Emergency Management Agency, many more are said to be trapped in the debris.
Although rescue operations were said to be quite difficult due to the clustered nature of the buildings in the area, rigorous efforts are however been made by the Emergency Response Team, the Lagos State Ambulance Service, Lagos State Fire Service, Lagos State Building Control Agency, National Emergency Management Agency, Nigeria Police , and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps.
Speaking at the scene of the incident, the General Manager LASEMA, Mr. Adesina Tiamiyu, said the prompt response by emergency responders culminated to the rescue of fourteen victims from the collapsed building.
According to him, “the agency received a distress call via the toll free number 767/112 on Monday 29th of May, 2017 at about 7:00am concerning a collapsed three storey building on the Island, which prompted the immediate activation of the emergency response team.
“The agency immediately mobilised all these stakeholders to the scene and successfully rescued fourteen victims with various degrees of injuries, who were immediately moved by the LASAMBUS and LRU Ambulance to Mainland Hospital for further treatment, while two other bodies were recovered dead from the debris and were handed over to the family members for burial.”
Tiamiyu noted that preliminary investigation carried out at the scene of the incident revealed that illegal activities of repairs was on going, sands and concrete blocks were seen on upper deck of the building together with scaffolding around it which suggest that construction was going on in the building already inhabited by people.
He however stated that proper investigation would be carried out by the relevant Government Agencies to ascertain the actual circumstances leading to the collapsed of the building.
He therefore advised owners and developers of buildings in the State to strictly adhere to the building codes and physical planing laws of the State so as to avert unnecessary loss of lives.
