Eight killed, 37 hurt in Lagos building collapse
Lagos: Rescuers recovered eight bodies and rescued 37 people alive from the wreckage of a collapsed four-storey building here in Nigeria.
Children had been attending an “illegal school” inside the residential building when the structure collapsed, officials said.
“Thirty-seven people were rescued alive and eight were recovered dead,” Ibrahim Farinloye of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said in a statement.
Earlier officials said dozens of children were trapped inside the building which collapsed mid-morning in an area near Itafaji market on Lagos Island.
In chaotic scenes, panicked parents, local residents and shocked onlookers rushed to the area as police, firemen and medics staged a massive rescue operation.
A young man helping rescue efforts who gave his name only as Derin said “at least 10 children” were trapped inside but “thought to be alive”.
An AFP reporter at the scene saw at least eight people pulled from the wreckage, including a small boy with blood on his face.
Covered in dust, he was alive but unconscious and appeared to be badly hurt.
One local resident who witnessed the moment of collapse said there was no warning.
“We were smoking outside when the building just collapsed,” said Olamide Nuzbah.
As rescuers worked furiously to reach those inside, distraught parents begged them to find their children.
“Please, save my child, save my child!” wept one traumatised mother whose seven-year-old daughter was trapped inside, as people tried to console her.
School bags, toys and clothes could be seen among the piles of rubble as a bulldozer tried to clear a path through some of the wreckage to help the rescue efforts.
Hundreds of local residents tried to help, passing water and helmets through to dust-covered rescuers working tirelessly to sift through the rubble, some of whom appeared to be distressed. — AFP