Mother, Child, six others killed in collapsed Lagos building

No fewer than eight persons have been confirmed dead after a three-storey building collapsed in the Ebutte Meta area of Lagos State.

The affected building, located at No. 38 Ibadan Street along Herbert Macaulay Way, went down on Sunday night.

A mother and her child were among those recovered dead from the rubble, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said on Monday.

NEMA’s Zonal Coordinator in the South West, Ibrahim Farinloye, who confirmed this disclosed that 23 people had been rescued so far.

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The latest incident was the second building collapse to be recorded in the Yaba-Ebutte Meta axis of the state in almost three months.

Another three-storey building collapsed in the Onike area of Yaba on February 13, resulting in several casualties after the developer of the project reportedly returned to the site despite a stop-work order on the structure.

Emergency workers are seen at work at the site of a building that collapsed on May 1, 2022, at Ibadan Street along Herbert Macaulay Way in the Ebutte Meta area of Lagos State.

While recounting Sunday’s tragedy, sources said, dozens were trapped in the rubble after the building went down about 10:56pm.

Emergency officials, including operatives of the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, the Lagos State Ambulance Service (LASAMBUS), and the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) were said to have raced to the scene shortly after the incident.

Farinloye, on his part, said 23 people comprising seven children and 16 adults trapped in the rubble had been brought out alive.

Nine of those rescued, he stated, had been treated and discharged, adding that the Nigeria Red Cross was making provisions for psycho-social and trauma counselling for them.

This photo shows an official in a chat with a resident at the site of a building that collapsed on May 1, 2022, at Ibadan Street along Herbert Macaulay Way in the Ebutte Meta area of Lagos State.

Apart from the mother and child earlier recovered dead, the NEMA official confirmed the death of six other victims, including an elderly man who had a hearing impairment and a young man simply identified as Tahin.

He disclosed that another three-storey building located on 100 Lagos Street – about 200 metres away from the structure that collapsed on Sunday has shown signs of distress.

Farinloye stated that the building had since been marked as distressed, but its occupants have remained defiant.

He, however, said the building had been re-sealed and its occupants evacuated by officials of the state’s buildings control agency – LABSCA. (Channels TV)