At least two persons are currently battling for life at a private hospital after a school-turned-residential building in the Ketu area of Lagos partially collapsed on Sunday.
The building housing over 800 rooms with hundreds of residents known as Agboye Estate on Oduntan Street, Ketu, first caved in on Saturday afternoon following hours of rainfall that greeted most parts of Lagos.
On Sunday afternoon, as residents were still trying to salvage their belongings, the building crumbled again, destroying another structure inside the compound before collapsing completely.
The development sent panic across the area, forcing hundreds of families and individuals residing in the building to vacate the premises.
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During a visit to the affected building on Sunday evening, dozens of residents were seen moving their belongings in different directions as officials of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency cordoned off the premises.
The affected compound housing several defective buildings has been marked for demolition by Lagos officials.
Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, LASEMA, Dr. Femi Oke-Osanyitolu, said at press time that there was no record of death.
According to Oke-Osanyitolu, “Upon arrival of the agency’s responders at the incident scene, a 2-storey building and a 4-storey building situated beside each other was found to have collapsed at the aforementioned address.
“Investigation conducted by the LRT revealed that the collapse could be attributed to aging and poor maintenance on the part of the owner.
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“Further investigation revealed that the staircase of the building caved in.
“Unfortunately, a male adult fell due to the impact of the collapse from the topmost floor, and has been taken to the hospital, while others sustained minor injuries.”
Consequently, the residents of the building have been asked to vacate the building immediately under the supervision of the combined team of LASEMA, Rapid Response Team, RRS, Lagos State Building Control Agency, LABSCA, and Lagos Neighborhood and Security Corps, LNSC, in order to avert further secondary incident.
According to him, the affected building would be pulled down as it has failed the structural integrity test following confirmation by LABSCA official at the scene, hence, posing a threat to the public and adjoining buildings.
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As of the time this report was filed, the LASEMA response team/paramedics, RRS, LABSCA, and LNSC were still on the ground at the incident scene working together to ensure total evacuation of occupants and security of lives and property.
The landlord of Agboye Estate has since gone into hiding following Sunday’s tragedy.
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