UPDATE: Death toll rises to 18 in Lekki building collapse

Kazeem Ugbodaga

Death toll in the collapsed five-storey building in Lekki area of Lagos, Southwest Nigeria has risen to 18 as at 9:15pm on Tuesday among them is a woman and her baby.

Rescue officials have continued to recover dead bodies since in the morning, Michael Akindele, General Manager, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, LASEMA said.

Akindele had at 4:00pm confirmed that the death toll had risen to 10 but that it has now increased to 18.

He said survivor figure has also moved to 13, noting that, the survivors have been transferred to hospitals by the Lagos State Ambulance Service, LASAMBUS while the deceased were being packed by the State Environmental Health Monitoring Unit, SEHMU to be taken to the mortuary.

Akindele said rescue operation was still on as three excavators were being used in the rescue operation as well as other search and rescue equipment.

The five-storey building collapsed in Lekki area of Lagos, Nigeria in the early hours of Tuesday. The collapsed building might not be unconnected with the heavy rainfall will lasted for hours at the early hours of Tuesday.

Many people, who are workers on the building were believed to have slept inside the uncompleted structure before it caved in.

Rescue operators include officers of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, LASEMA, Lagos State Fire Services, Lagos State Ambulance Service, LASAMBUS, Rapid Response Squad, RRS, Civil Defence, National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, Navy and the Nigeria police.