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By Tessy Igomu
A three-story building collapsed located on No. 21, Saka Oloro Street, Ilufe Road, off Alaba International Market, Ojo, Lagos, collapsed in the early hours of yesterday.
However, no life was lost or injury sustained as residents had earlier vacated the structure before it eventually gave way. The building, which consisted of eight blocks of flats, according to residents of the area, had for long showed distress signs and had been a source of concern.
According to some of the tenants, before they were forced to flee the house, their doors became stiff and very difficult to open. They subsequently packed some of their belongings and left for a safer place.
They are, however, sad that their property was trapped in the collapsed building, as they now have no way of retrieving them from the rubble.
At the site, emergency workers, among whom were officials of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps, Lagos State Ambulance Service, the Red Cross and police officers had a difficult time controlling the crowd that surged around the collapsed building.
The agencies also evacuated residents from other buildings that appeared distressed.
General manager, of LASEMA, Mr. Adesina Tiamiyu, disclosed that the building had earlier been sealed by the Lagos State Building Control Agency due to its derelict state. He said the notice served weeks before the collapse was what saved the lives of the tenants.
He also noted that recovery operation was ongoing and other stakeholders in emergency management within the state were still on hand to prevent any secondary incident that might lead to loss of life.
As at the time of filing this report, officials of the Lagos State government had begun demolition of what was left of the structure.
