Rescue efforts have ended at the scene where a four-story residential building collapsed and killed at least eight people in Lagos on Tuesday.
Kehinde Adebayo, an official of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), said on Wednesday afternoon that rescuers were giving way to investigators who will seek the cause of the collapse.
An Associated Press photographer said three more bodies have been pulled from the rubble of the collapsed residential building at No 3/5 Massey Street on Lagos Island.
Emergency officials earlier Wednesday said five people had died in the collapse. It is not known how many people had been inside the building in a poor neighbourhood of Lagos.
The state government has, however, urged Lagosians not to hesitate to raise alarm if they suspect discrepancy in the construction of any building within their vicinity.
Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Wasiu Anifowoshe who spoke when he visited the site of the collapsed building on Wednesday said Lagosians must join hands with the government and report property owners and developers where they sense any irregularity during construction.
“My advice for Lagosians especially the tenants that live in these houses, we have been saying this times without number, if you see your landlord doing anything dangerous to your safety, please be a whistle blower, make noise, tell us, let government know in advance.
“We were informed that this mast was erected two weeks ago. If the mast had not been erected we might not have had this ugly situation. Please be on the look-out, let us be our brothers’ keeper,” Anifowoshe said.
Anifowoshe, who commiserated with families of victims who lost their lives in the unfortunate incident, said the state’s emergency response team spent over 24 hours combing the rubble to rescue trapped victims and convey them to the hospital, adding that a thorough investigation would be conducted to unravel the cause of the collapse.
“Presently, the site has been cordoned off and there will not be any development on this site because any site that collapses in Lagos State, the law says the state must seize the property,” he said.
