Chiemelie Ezeobi
Barely two years after a three-storey building collapsed at Swamps Street on Lagos Island, another building yesterday collapsed in the same axis, trapping scores underneath the rubbles.
As at 7p.m., five children and 10 adults had been rescued, with many still trapped under the rubbles.
An eyewitness said some customers who were eating in the restaurant downstairs were still trapped, including a woman and her four kids, who are residents in the building.
Also trapped are two women who sold rice and yam and some of their customers.
Confirming the recent figure of survivors, the General Manager of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Mr. Adesina Tiamiyu, said rescue operations had continued as their heavy duty equipment are presently searching through the rubble for others still trapped underneath.
He said other agencies at the site were National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Lagos State Ambulance Services (LASAMBUS), Lagos State Fire Service, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and Red Cross.
He said their primary focus was to save lives, which has proven difficult, adding that the residents and the crowd are making it difficult to access the site and rescue the victims.
Meanwhile, the residents blamed the recently erected telecommunications mast and the rains for the structurally defect on the building.
According to an eyewitness account, the building, said to be owned by Kafo family, suddenly gave way and collapsed around 4p.m. without any prior warning or crack.
As initially confirmed by the Director, Lagos State Fire Service, Mr. Rasaq Fadipe, five people were rescued first, adding that operation was ongoing.
In another development, a collision between a commercial bus and a private car by Aswani bus stop along Apapa/Mile 2 Expressway, left many passengers and passersby injured.
To contain the situation were personnel of LASEMA Response Unit (LRU), who administered first aid treatment to the victims in the mobile ambulance.
Meanwhile, a tanker, fully-loaded with aviation fuel, disconnected from the head of the heavy duty vehicle and fell at the Barracks, inwards Ojuelegba, Lagos.
Because there were no casualties, the emergency responders were more interested in containing the incident to prevent any explosion.
