More than 1000 occupants survive in building collapse

More than 20 persons were injured and rushed to the General hospital Ajegunle, following the collapse, on Thursday morning of a four story uncompleted building on Fasasi Street.

All the victims, who are from the Northern part of the country were illegal occupants who took advantage of the free accommodation provided by the uncompleted building.

Some of the victims who spoke through an interpreter said they had spent more than 20 years living in the building.

“We are Hausa people from different parts of the north. We have been living here for more than 20 years. When we came to Lagos, some of us did not have anywhere to stay. Our Hausa brothers in Lagos brought us to this building; nobody has come to ask us for rent, so we have not been paying any money for the place,” said Dikko Ibrahim one of the victims.

According to Isa Bawa another victim, there were more than 1,000 occupants in the building when it collapsed.

“All of us in the building are more than 1,000. We were sleeping around 4.00am when we heard the crack, so we ran out. The injured were unable to run out on time and have been taken to the hospital,” Mr. Bawa said.

The Director of the Lagos state Physical Planning and Development Authority (LASPPDA) Adekunle Rafael was at the scene of the accident with other officials of the agency.

He said the Landlord and the developer of the property will be prosecuted.

“Right now, I cannot tell you the cause of this collapse but our engineers are investigating and testing the materials. Apparently, you can see that the building has been there for a long time. Another thing that can cause the collapse is the large number of both occupants and materials.

“We are going to bring down the building and we will recommend that the landlord and the developer be prosecuted. We have taken the injured to the general hospital at the expense of the government,” Mr. Rafael said.

Police officers from the Governor Monitoring Team (GMT) were drafted to the scene to provide security. Nobody has been confirmed dead.

It can be recalled that in March, a four story building collapsed at Ojerinde Street, another Lagos suburb and killed six persons.