At least five people have died in a building collapse that occurred in the Maryland area of Lagos State on Thursday morning.
FIJ understands that the building was still under construction when it crumbled, trapping manual workers who slept inside at 13 Wilson Mba Street, Greenland Estate, which was the location of the collapse.
While at the scene, FIJ gathered that the incident happened around 1:30 am. Some residents of the estate told this reporter that the building property belongs to a Nollywood actress identified as Aisha.
While the building was situated on the fringe of a canal that passes through the estate, it appears to have been approved by the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA).
The construction approval number LSC/CON/D/0972 was written on a Lagos State-issued caution sign attached to the gate.
Rescuers from the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) coordinated the rescue operation alongside medical personnel and security operatives.
Speaking on the number of casualties, Akinsanya Olatunde, the LASEMA director of operations, told journalists that the agency “rescued five male adults alive and five male adults dead. The survivors were stabilised before they were taken to the Gbagada General Hospital, where they are currently being treated.”
However, a male eyewitness who participated in the rescue exercise before dawn, when the state rescuers arrived, told FIJ that the fatalities were six. He said four were rescued very early this morning.
“Among the ones that were rescued alive, one later died on their way to the hospital and another fatality was just brought out of the rubble,” the eyewitness said.
He further explained that the building crumbled from its penthouse, killing manual workers on the ground floor, who were said to be mostly from Ibadan, Oyo State.
FIJ learned that some residents of Wilson Mba Street had been complaining about the structural balance of the building and the developer was always patching up the slant on one side, towards the canal.
Our reporter observed that a few buildings on both sides of the street close to the collapsed building either had a slant or cracks on them.
When Gbolahan Oki, the general manager of LASBCA, arrived at the place, he explained that the agency might demolish the unhealthy buildings near the scene.
On April 18, FIJ reported that the state government, through the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources, had commenced the demolition of some buildings said to have been built on the canal in the estate.
Owners of the affected property on Seun Oni Close were evicted. It is unclear why the houses that fell on the fringes of the canal on Wilson Mba Street were not affected by the eviction.
