By: Pentho Goldmark A tragic building collapse has left one person dead and eight others rescued after a four-storey structure under const...
By: Pentho Goldmark
A tragic building collapse has left one person dead and eight others rescued after a four-storey structure under construction gave way at 333 Borno Way, Alagomeji, Ebute-Metta, Lagos Mainland, on Friday night.
The incident, which occurred around 8 p.m., threw residents into panic as they scampered for safety while emergency responders rushed to the scene.
According to reports, all the rescued victims were adult male construction workers who had been trapped under the rubble. They were pulled out alive by emergency workers after hours of painstaking search and rescue operations that continued until the early hours of Saturday.
Confirming the development, the Deputy Controller General of the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, Olajide Ogabi, said eight trapped victims were rescued alive as of 5 a.m. on Saturday and were immediately taken to the hospital for treatment. He added that rescue teams had reached ground zero while evacuation of debris was still ongoing.
However, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) later confirmed that one yet-to-be-identified victim was recovered dead from the site. The body has since been bagged and deposited at the morgue for further investigation.
Emergency agencies at the scene included the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), the Nigeria Police (Lagos State Command), and other first responders.
Ogabi assured the public that “further updates will be communicated as the situation unfolds,” stressing that search and evacuation efforts were still ongoing as of Saturday morning.
Meanwhile, Lagosians also raised concerns about a suspected gas leak along the Ikeja axis on Friday evening, which caused panic in parts of the state. The Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service clarified that the odour was not from a pipeline rupture but from a routine gas decongestion exercise by Axxela Group, parent company of Gaslink, which supplies gas pipelines across the corridor.
Ogabi explained that the gaseous effect had already been neutralized and that fire crews were on standby patrols around the affected areas to ensure safety. He urged the public to exercise caution but assured them that there was no cause for alarm.
“The situation is under control. The saturated air will fizzle out gradually. Residents should go about their normal lawful businesses without fear,” he said.
The Lagos State Government has since deployed all relevant emergency responders to continue managing both the building collapse site and the Ikeja gas odour scare to prevent further casualties.
Photo credit: Vanguard News
No comments