Four construction workers die as two buildings collapse in Lagos
Seventeen days after a 21-storey building collapsed and claimed about 46 lives in the Ikoyi area of Lagos State, another building under construction around Magbon in the Badagry area of the state has killed four construction workers.
The labourers were working on the two-storey building when it collapsed around 1pm on Wednesday, according to Punch.
After the implosion, emergency responders, including members of the community, who rushed to rescue some of the victims, recovered four corpses and saved five others.
Our correspondent, who saw a clip showing the deceased workers, noted that there were bloodstains around the scene of the incident.
Residents could be heard lamenting the tragedy, as the remains of the victims were wrapped in cloths.
The Director, Lagos State Fire and Rescue Services, Margaret Adeseye, said the five survivors sustained varying degrees of injury and were rushed to hospital.
She said, “There was a reported case of a building that collapsed at the Flour Mills Estate, Magbon, Badagry, Lagos State.
“The Lagos State Fire and Rescue Services, Badagry Station, rescued five victims from the rubble of the building, which was under construction.
“However, four adult males were recovered unconscious, as the Nigeria police, Morogbo division, and the community dwellers complemented the efforts of the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Services.”
The Director-General, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, also confirmed the incident, adding that efforts were on to rescue other victims trapped in the rubble.
The South-West Coordinator, National Emergency Management Agency, Ibrahim Farinloye, said the remains of the four victims were deposited in the morgue of the Badagry General Hospital.
He said, “A two-storey building under construction at the Flour Mill Estate collapsed at about 1pm. Five workers were rescued alive with various degrees of injury and taken to the Catholic Hospital at Magbon; four died.
“The families and relations of the affected victims have identified them. The building is located behind a dwelling structure. Rescue operations have been concluded.”
The state Police Public Relations Officer, CSP Adekunle Ajisebutu, said the police area commander detailed policemen to the scene to join the rescue operation.
He said, “Six people were rescued alive while four bodies were recovered and deposited at the General Hospital, Badagry. The rescue operation has ended.”
In a related development, a one-storey building under construction on Berkley Estate, Zone 2, in the Abule Egba area of the state, also collapsed.
The building caved in around 5am on Wednesday.
It was learnt that the sound of the collapse caught the attention of residents, who rushed out of their houses in panic.
A source on the estate told our correspondent that there was no casualty.
The source said, “We were just at home when we heard a loud sound; the bang was as if a truck was offloading sand..”
When contacted for a reaction to the series of building collapse in the state, the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotosho, promised to get back to our correspondent.
He had yet to do so as of the time this report was filed.
