Building with over 500 residents collapses in Lagos

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A building comprising over 500 rooms in Agboye Estate on Oduntan street, Ketu area of Lagos, collapsed on Sunday.

A section of the house collapsed earlier on Saturday due to the heavy rainfall within the state during the weekend.

It was learnt that the house which was a private school was recently converted into a residential apartment.

The Territorial Coordinate of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Ibrahim Farinloye, confirmed the incident.

He said it was a partial collapse of a house located along Agboye Estate in Oduntan Street, Ketu.

“Two persons had partial injuries and were responding to treatment. It was a school turned residential housing with more than 500 rooms. It partially caved-in on Saturday afternoon,” he added.

Meanwhile the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) said that the apartment was made up of a two-storey and four-storey building beside each other.

The Permanent Secretary of the agency, Dr Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, in a statement, said that the collapse happened at No. 47-49 Oduntan St., Kosofe, Lagos.

“Upon arrival of the agency’s responders at the scene, a 2-storey building and a 4-storey building situated beside each other were found to have collapsed at the aforementioned address.

“Investigation conducted by the response team, revealed that the collapse could be attributed to ageing and poor maintenance on the part of the owner.

“Further investigation revealed that the staircase of the building caved in.

“Unfortunately, a male adult fell due to the impact of the collapse from the topmost floor and has been taken to the hospital,” he said.

He said residents of the building had been asked to vacate the building under the supervision of the combined team of LASEMA, Rapid Response Squad, Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) and Lagos Neighbourhood Safety Corps (LNSC), in order to avert further secondary incident.

He, however, said that the building would be pulled down, as it had failed a structural integrity test as confirmed by LASBCA officials at the scene.

“With this, the building is a threat to the public and adjoining buildings,” he said.