Five rescued as building collapses in Lagos

Collapsed building in lagod

The Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), during overnight operation on Thursday, rescued five victims in another collapsed building in Ojuelegba area of Surulere.

The Chief Executive Officer, LASEMA, Dr Oluwafemi Oke-Osanyintolu, who confirmed the new incident to newsmen on Friday in Lagos said the victims were rescued after the building was pulled down to the ground zero about 11 p.m.

Oke-Osanyintolu said the accident occurred at 9.15 p.m., adding that the rescue was in collaboration with the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA).

“The most important thing is that we rescued five people alive while pulling down the building to save lives and property.

“When we got to the building, we discovered that the building was highly unstable, LASBCA had marked the building on March 25, 2015 and May 21 while the residents and the landlord were warned to vacate their premises.

“We need to perform, urgently, the construction and re-development of that area because of safety of lives and property. We then had to use our sophisticated equipment to check whether people are under the debris. With our equipment, we pulled down the building to the ground zero,” NAN quoted him as saying.

Oke-Osanyintolu urged residents in the state to ensure their buildings were properly maintained, adding that emergency was everybody’s business.

He, however, announced plans by the agency to conduct test on all buildings within the area, in order to ensure the safety of the environment in the locality.