AT least two people have died following the collapse of a seven-storey building in the Lekki area of Lagos on Sunday.
This was disclosed by Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, Nosa Okunbor.
“Two male commodities have been recovered under the rubble and bagged. Search and rescue is ongoing,” he said.
The building located at Oba Idowu Oniru Street, Lekki, collapsed in the early hours of Sunday, trapping six people.
Director-General, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, LASEMA, Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, confirmed the incident earlier on Sunday.
“Upon arrival at the scene of the incident, an uncompleted 7-story building undergoing construction was found to have collapsed. About six people are reported to be trapped under the rubbles of the collapsed structure,” Oke-Osanyintolu said.
“The Agency’s heavy-duty equipment excavator will be required for the rescue of the trapped victims. We have activated the Lagos State Response plan. Operation still ongoing,” he added.
The building located at Oba Idowu Oniru Street, collapsed in the early hours of Sunday.
Emergency responders were deployed to the scene to carry out rescue operations.
Sunday’s incident is the latest in a series of building collapses recorded in Lagos in recent times.
In February, a building collapsed in the Yaba area of the state, leaving five people dead.
In November 2021, a 21-storey building also collapsed in Ikoyi, Lagos.
An engineering firm, Prowess Engineering Limited, had in a letter circulated after the incident, explained that it withdrew its structural consultancy services during the construction of the building in February 2020 after certifying the structure as unsafe and vulnerable to collapse.
Ijeoma Opara is a journalist with The ICIR. Reach her via [email protected] or @ije_le on Twitter.