No fewer than four persons have been reported to have died and six others rescued by the joint emergency rescue team from the rubble of a 16-storey building under construction that caved in along Gerrard road within Ikoyi axis of Lagos State.
Aside from the four dead and six victims rescued through the aid of an excavator, it was learnt that over 15 people including the property owner, identified as Femi Osibona, who reported to be on site before it collapsed, were still trapped under rubbles of the former building sited on 44BCD Gerrard road, Ikoyi.
The statistics were made available to thescopermedia.com by members of the rescue team battling to reduce the number of possible casualties from scene of the collapsed building in the state.
These victims were brought out from the building that came down at about 1:30 pm on Monday by a joint emergency rescue team that include officials of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), the State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and the Nigerian Police as well as Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA).
The owner of the property, built through Fourscore Heights Limited, was said to be on-site inspecting the structure when the building caved in at about 1:30 pm, with many trapped under the structure.
Sources told thescopermedia.com correspondent that before the structure caved in, the property owner had been preventing officials of the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) and other building regulatory agencies from gaining access into the structure.
One Mr. Femi told our correspondent that some building regulatory came to the area yesterday to inspect the building but we’re chased away by the armed policemen guarding the place . It was noted that they even shot gun on the air to scare away the officials.
One of the workers of that building, Benedict Akpa who was wailing profusely ” my oga is inside the building oo, my oga is inside ooo’..He revealed that he narrowly escaped because it was just 10mins before now that his oga asked him to be there.. Unfortunately, as he was on his way to the place, he heard that the building has collapsed.
After the building came down, the Deputy Governor of the state, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, has led the emergency rescue operation, ensuring that all victims of the incident get adequate treatment.
Confirming the incident, the General Manager of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Dr. Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, disclosed that he has activated the agency’s emergency response plan to the above incident.
According to him, all first responders are enroute to secure the scene while the heavy-duty equipment and life detection equipment have been dispatched.
A staff of LASBCA, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, narrated that efforts have been intensified to ensure that any possible person left under the rubbles were rescued alive.
….ISSA Tajudeen