The Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) has said that the death toll in the collapsed five-storey building in Lekki, Lagos, has risen to 10.
LASEMA’s General Manager, Michael Akindele, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that as of 3. 30 p.m. on Tuesday, 10 other people had been rescued.
Mr. Akindele said the building at Chisco bus Stop, opposite Oando filling station, Lekki, which was under construction, collapsed during an early morning downpour.
He said the victims were workers with the building’s construction firm handling, who slept in it overnight.
The LASEMA chief said the agency got a distress call at about 4.47 a.m. and promptly mobilised for rescue operations.
“Our men are still on the ground as search and rescue operation is still ongoing.
“The Lagos State Fire Service , the Lagos State Police Command, Lagos State Ambulance Service, the Rapid Response Squad, the Nigerian Red Cross Society, and the Civil Defence Corps are on ground to ensure people are rescued and given proper medical attention,” Mr. Akindele said.
Meanwhile, the Lekki Gardens, owners of the collapsed building, in a statement, said the building was meant to house a number of apartments.
It said that work on the collapsed building had been suspended since January 2016, due to reported structural defects.
“As regards the said building, a contractor was hired for the completion of the project, and was supposed to be completed in June 2017.
“However, after preliminary structural assessments, we discovered that the building had some structural defects and immediately halted construction work on the said building,” the statement said.
It said it also revoked all construction jobs assigned to the company for not implementing standard safety and structural procedures on-site.
The statement added that further steps were initiated to reassess all construction tasks assigned to the company.
(NAN)
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