At least one occupant of a three-storey building that collapsed in the Ojodu Berger area of Lagos State has been confirmed dead while eight others were rescued from the rubble of the ill-fated building by emergency responders.
Although the identity of the deceased adult has not been revealed as at the time of filing this report, it was gathered that the rescued victims include staff of the popular EqualRight Restaurant who were inside the building when it caved in at about 9am on Saturday.
It was further gathered that the body was recovered and the others were rescued by the combined team of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and their Lagos State counterpart (LASEMA) during their operations at the site of the collapsed building under construction.
A resident of the area told LEADERSHIP Sunday that the structure sited on 9 Oremeta Street, Ojodu, had a section already completed and leased for commercial purposes, part of which the restaurant rented for business purposes.
The permanent secretary, LASEMA, Dr Olufemi Damilola Oke-Osanyintolu, said, “Following distress alerts at 09:45hrs, the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), activated the state’s emergency response plans from the command and control centre, Alausa and Onipanu.
“Upon arrival of the agency’s response teams at the incident scene by 09:52hrs, it was discovered that a 3-storey building housing a restaurant and bar had collapsed, with several victims trapped under the debris.
“Cause of the collapsed building is yet to be ascertained as at the time of this report. Eight victims have been rescued so far.
“One of the rescued victims attended to by the LASEMA Pre-Hospital Care Unit has been transported to the hospital for further medical attention.”
