At least 10 persons died on Monday when a 21-storey residential highrise collapsed on Gerard Road in the Ikoyi area of Nigeria’s commercial capital－Lagos.
Seven people have been rescued, while dozens, mostly construction workers remain trapped under a heap of twisted metal and concrete rubble.
Rescue workers including teams from Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, National Emergency Management Agency, Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, Lagos State Fire Service, Federal Road Safety Corps, police, army and paramedics dug through the rubble using excavators to retrieve bodies into waiting ambulances.
While reacting to the incident, the Lagos State Government called for calm among the residents. The Lagos state government said the building had 22 floors and authorities were assessing whether there had been any damage to nearby buildings.
The collapsed building was part of three towers being built by private developer Fourscore Heights Limited. In a brochure for potential clients, the company promises to offer “a stress-free lifestyle, complete with a hotel flair”. The cheapest unit was selling for $1.2 million.
One of the survivors told our correspondents that more than 50 persons were still trapped in the rubble.
News Central TV Correspondent, Bernad Akede reported that some relatives of the victims present at the scene were crying and declined to speak to reporters.
Meanwhile, the company that designed and supervised the construction, Prowess Engineering Limited, said it withdrew from the project in 2020 because it no longer shared the same vision with the owners, Fourscore Heights Limited.
The Managing Director, Prowess Engineering Limited, Muritala Olawale, in a letter to Femi Osibona on February 20, 2020, said his firm could not guarantee the integrity of the building from anything above the fourth floor.
Olawale, who handled two other building projects for Osibona, said his company was withdrawing from the third one because “of how the project is being executed.”