A pregnant woman, the proprietor of Ohen nursery and primary school and 19 others, including no fewer than 12 pupils died in the collapsed building at Massey Street, Itafaji on Lagos Island on Wednesday, witnesses and hospital sources said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) gathered that most of the victims were rescued from the rubble on Wednesday, but died at the General Hospital as doctors were unable to save them.
Spokesman of the South-West Zone of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Ibrahim Farinloye, said rescue operation was ongoing as at 8pm on Wednesday.
The agency had said that eight persons died, while 34 others were rescued in the wreckage of the building that collapsed at about 10 am.
The building had earlier been marked for demolition by officials of the Lagos State Building Control Agency.
But the occupants of the building prevented the demolition.
About 17 of the rescued students and occupants of the building were taken to Massey Children Hospital, very close to the scene, while others were taken to the Lagos Island General Hospital on Broad Street.
Parents and guardians of pupils flocked to the scene hoping that their children and relatives would come out alive.
A former teacher in the school, Miss Bukola Salami, told NAN that the proprietress of the school had been told to vacate the building but she balked on account that she had no money to rent another apartment.
“It was because of the situation of the building that forced me to resign from the school in December, because I don’t want to risk my life.
“It is unfortunate that such incident happened. It looks like a dream to me,” she said.
