Another building collapsed in Oshodi, Lagos state. Two people died and nine injured.

Monday, April 26, 2010

The scene of a collapsed building in which two persons died in Oshodi, Lagos ... yesterday.

Two persons died yesterday when a part of the Cairo Market in Oshodi, Lagos, collapsed.


Nine others were injured. They have been hospitalised.

The collapsed part is the section under construction. Some residents and textile traders said more people are still trapped under the rubble.

According to them, the incident occurred at about 8:30am.

A worker at the site, Monsuru, said the deceased were his colleagues. He added that some people were still trapped under the debris and had been calling for help through their GSM phones.

According to him, there is a possibility that those trapped might still be alive, adding that the rescuers need to expedite action.

At the scene were the police, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Lagos State Ambulance Service (LASAMBUS), Lagos State Transport Management Agency (LASTMA), Red Cross, Lagos State Physical Planning and Urban Development Authority (LASSPPDA), Lagos State Task Force among others.

Head, Operation and Logistics, LASEMA, Olusegun Magnus-Davies, said the cause of the collapse was yet to be ascertained.

"We need to conduct a thorough investigation to establish what the cause of this ugly incident is. But at the moment we are concentrating on rescuing those trapped under the rubble," he said.

Assistant zonal Co-ordinator, South-West, NEMA, Mrs Bolanle Ojo, said the agency was on top of the situation, adding that those on rescue mission will not leave until those trapped are recovered.

She added: "Since there is no roll call, we couldn’t ascertain the number of the people trapped."

A 300 level Law student at the Lagos State University (LASU), Adegbite Adekunle said he saw dust haze from the market at about 8:30am, adding that he went to the scene and heard people calling for help.

He said many people were reluctant to participate in the rescue operation to avoid being trapped.

About 3.00 pm, the Police ordered the crowd to leave the scene to give the rescue team space to operate.

At about 3.20 pm, Idris, a young man in his early 30s was rescued from the rubble.

He was immediately given First AID treatment by medical personnel.

About 20 minutes later, Idris was stretchered to an unknown hospital.

Then the rescue team led by Julius Berger used the crane to move the rubble away from areas where some people were suspected to be trapped.

In what seemed like a miracle, a man named Sherif emerged just as the crane was moving the debris, prompting chants of Praise God" from people who had thought no one could still be alive.

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