The Lagos State Government has commenced investigation into the collapse of a three-storey building under construction at 333 Borno Street, Alagomeji, Yaba, which claimed one life and left four others injured.
The structure caved in around 8:30 pm on Friday, trapping several occupants beneath the rubble.
Sunday PUNCH gathered that emergency teams from the National Emergency Management Agency, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, and other responders quickly mobilised to the site for search and rescue operations.
Although eyewitnesses gave conflicting figures on the number of trapped victims, emergency officials confirmed that four adult males were rescued alive and taken to hospital, while one body was recovered.
Speaking with Sunday PUNCH, Lagos Commissioner for Information, Gbenga Omotoso, commiserated with the bereaved family and stated that the state had commenced investigations.
He said, “The state government commiserates with the family of the man who passed on in the incident. We have started investigation into the matter to know what went wrong, who are the owners of the property.”
The Permanent Secretary of LASEMA, Dr Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, also disclosed that search operations were ongoing as of Saturday night.
“We recovered one body while four people were rescued alive with the combined effort of all the primary respondents. The operation is still ongoing. We can’t just say the cause now until proper investigation is carried out,” he said.
In its day-two incident report, NEMA confirmed that the rescued victims were stable and receiving treatment.
The agency added that there were speculations of two more persons still trapped under the debris, though no further rescue had been made at press time.
