File photo: A weeping woman at the site of the building collapse
The total number of people who died in the tragic building collapse which occurred in Lagos State, has risen again.
A The Nation report has shown that the death toll in Tuesday’s building collapse yesterday rose from two to eight.
According to the report, the grim task of rescuing the trapped took
the better of the day before the operation was called off last night.
An eight-year old surviour, Wuraola Afolayan, said she saw a ray of
light and pulled her younger brother towards it before they were
rescued.
The kids were among 15 others rescued from the building which caved in at Massey/Karena Street.
The six more bodies were recovered between 1am and noon by Lagos
State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) with the help of floodlight.
The rescuers worked despite the hostilities of some miscreants.
Afolayan, who was brought to the scene when Deputy Commissioner of
Police (DCP) in charge of Operations, Imohimi Edgal arrived, said they
were sent by their parents to buy beans.
She said: “Our mother sent us to buy beans. When we got there,
the building just fell. We were in a dark place when I saw light and so,
I pulled my brother and we followed the light. That was how we were
seen and rescued.”
Eleven-year-old Hassan Ajetunmobi was also rescued from the debris around 3:30am. He was injured on his right leg and left hand.
Awolowo Toyin, Amoo Zainab, Kofo Rotimi, Adau Akeem, Ufodike
Innocent, Adebayo Olugbemi, Leonard Bernard, Adawo Adidat, Rahmon Rasa,
Amoo Sherifat, Ajetunmobi Oyindamola, Amidu Lamou and Qudus Ojoye were
rescued on Tuesday and rushed to Lagos Island General Hospital.
The bodies of Lawal Mabolaje, 15 and Ibrahim Bello, 26, which were
among those recovered from the rubble, have been collected by the
relatives.
The miscreants went wild around 2am, when Bello’s body was found.
When LASEMA and Nigerian Red Cross (NRC) officials took the body
bag to a waiting van, the thugs demanded to see it and their wish was
granted.
Rather than allow the family to take the body away, they attacked
the officials who carried the body bag, threatening to kill them.
Two of them lifted their clothes up and showed the officials guns. They accused the rescuers of killing Bello.
Explanations by the LASEMA crew that the victim was brought out
from under a beam fell on the hoodlums’ deaf ears. They assaulted a Red
Cross official.
To ensure peace, LASEMA General Manager Adesina Tiamiyu ordered the
emergency workers to withdraw from the site for the miscreants.
Following their withdrawal, relatives of those still trapped went
after the hoodlums and also invited the police to chase them away.
The hoodlums eventually gave way for the rescuers to continue their work and Ajetunmobi was rescued.
It was gathered that residents last week prevented the firm that
mounted a mast near the building from installing an industrial standby
generator on the penthouse.
The government has begun investigation to ascertain who approved the installation of the mast on the structure.
It was gathered that a telecommunication’s firm paid a relative of
the building owner for the mast. The relative has since moved abroad.
Tiamiyu said the mast might have contributed to the building collapse, adding that investigation would determine the cause.
He said the building and others around it would hardly pass
integrity test, appealing to the residents to consider their safety
first.
According to him, 15 persons were rescued. He put the casualty figure at eight.
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