One Killed, 13 Rescued In Lagos Building Collapse

There was pandemonium when the building housing a local restaurant collapsed at about 8 am, leaving an unspecified number of people trapped.

One person has been confirmed dead at the scene of the two-storey building that collapsed on Oremeta Street in the Ojodu-Berger area of Lagos State on Saturday.

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) confirmed this in a statement on Saturday, adding that 13 people have been rescued.

There was pandemonium when the building housing a local restaurant collapsed at about 8 am, leaving an unspecified number of people trapped beneath the rubble.

A resident in the area, who spoke with our correspondent on the condition of anonymity, said the building had been under construction.

The resident said that no sooner had some of the workers at the restaurant arrived than it caved in.

However, the South-West Coordinator of NEMA, Mr Ibrahim Farinloye, said, “(The) cause of the collapsed building has yet to be ascertained as of the time of writing this report.

“Twelve victims have been rescued, one adult dead.”

We’ll Reach Ground Zero – LASEMA

Meanwhile, the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) has appealed to residents of the area to remain and enable officials of the agency to carry out search and rescue operations at the scene of the building.

The Permanent Secretary of LASEMA, Damilola Oke-Osanyitolu, in an interview, said the emergency responders on the ground would “get to ground zero” for other victims still trapped under the rubble.

He said, “A two-storey building collapsed; we’ve activated the Lagos State Emergency response plan under the watch of the Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and you can see that we’re painstaking in the way we’re responding and the operation is ongoing.

“I need to remind the good people of Lagos State to remain cool, calm and collected.

“We’re working with all the local people; we’re working with all the primary responders and we’re on top of the situation.”

Responding to the concern of some of the residents that many could still be trapped, he said, “There’s no roll call but the most important thing is that we’re going to get to ground zero.

“By the time we get to ground zero, we’ll see everything that is in there and we’re going to give a comprehensive report. The governor is aware of the situation and has been coordinating the response plan.”

Resident Blames Contractor

Meanwhile, a resident has faulted the construction of an additional floor on the building by a contractor.

The resident, who pleaded anonymity, also said the owner of the restaurant had not arrived when the incident occurred.

“We’re concerned about the people inside that place for now. I don’t know the number of people there but some people have been rescued.

“What they are using (for the rescue operation) is not the right machine and I have been telling them about that, that they should bring a better machine that will be able to remove the concrete instead of breaking it and injuring the people under the building.

“The engineer did not do the right thing; if you build a house and create a decking, you don’t need to leave it like that for a long time because of the rain. The engineer who was working on the building should have started working from the ground floor, not on the decking because you’re putting the weight on the ground floor,” he added.