7 Killed As 3-Storey Building Collapses

Six bodies have so far been removed from the rubble of a three-storey building which collapsed at Ebute Meta, Lagos, southwest Nigeria, this morning.

The bodies were those of a couple, a baby and three others. A pregnant woman was also brought out of the rubble dead, making a total of seven dead persons.

Latest report from the site said seven other persons were rescued alive.

The building reportedly collapsed at 2 a.m. on Thursday.

Mr. Ibrahim Farinloye, spokesperson of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), South-West, disclosed that his agency got information that the building started cracking at about 1.30 a.m. and finally gave way at about 2 a.m.

Farinloye also confirmed that the injured were taken to hospitals.

Officials said the collapse was caused by structural defects, a common problem in Lagos.

“Seven dead and seven rescued,” said Ibrahim Farinloye, spokesman for the National Emergency Management Agency.

Around 20 people lived in the building. All have been accounted for by the police.

Emergency officials at the site include policemen, officials of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Red Cross, NEMA, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) and the state Fire Service. Residents and youths in the area were also helping out.

A rescued resident of the building, Miss Dalikis Abdulamid, 23, disclosed that she was at the balcony of the second floor when the building collapsed.

She said that her mother and her four siblings were also rescued, but had been taken to the hospital.

According to her, they had been noticing cracks in the walls of their rooms, but that their father used to patch these up with cement.

“We did not know that the building will collapse. By 2 a.m., when the building came down, some of our co-tenants were trapped, while some were dead,” she said.

The Commisioner for Special Duties Wale Almed, who was on ground to assess the situation, said that the government is looking into the issue of collapsed buildings in Lagos.

He said he hopes the committee will come up with a permament solution to the problem.

Some of the residents and tenants who spoke to P.M.NEWS said apart from casualties, goods and properties worth millions of naira were destroyed

A businessman identified as Ken, said he uses the collapse house as his warehouse and lost goods worth millions of naira.

—Cyriacus Izuekwe