The Lagos State Government has demolished an abandoned building after a partial collapse led to the death of a 25-year-old resident.
According to The PUNCH, a section of the two-storey building located around Haruna Bus Stop, in the Ikorodu area of the state, collapsed on Monday night, trapping 15 residents.
The publication revealed that 12 of the victims were evacuated leaving three others unaccounted for.
A combined team of agency responders, Lagos State Building Control Agency and Lagos Fire and Rescue Service commenced a rescue operation of the three trapped adults, according to the Director-General, LASEMA, Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu.
Unfortunately, only two of the trapped victims were rescued alive while the third, Joseph Ilesanmi, was brought out dead from the rubble on Tuesday.
Confirming the incident, The Acting Zonal Coordinator, National Emergency Management Agency, Ibrahim Farinloye, said occupants of the building, defied an evacuation order by the owners of the house who warned of them to leave after the LSSBCA had declared the building unsafe for habitation after it failed an integrity test.
Farinloye said, “It was reported that it was an abandoned building and that the owners had asked the occupants to leave, but those people stayed without the consent of the owners.
“Immediately the incident occurred, some residents mobilised themselves to carry out initial rescue activities. Though fire service and police responded, we were unable to do much due to the unavailability of equipment to lift the rubble on the suspected location of the trapped victims.
“The collapsed building was an extension. The emergency phase of the search and rescue has ended with the evacuation of all debris to ground zero with no additional body recovered.
“So far, two people were rescued alive with injuries and one body recovered. The injured victims are currently at the Ikorodu General Hospital receiving medical treatment.”
