One dead as another building collapses in Lagos

One person has been confirmed dead after a two-storey building collapsed at Freeman Road, Lagos Island on Saturday.

The incident was confirmed by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), noting that one person was also rescued from the collapsed building.

The Zonal Coordinator of NEMA, South-West, Ibrahim Farinloye, disclosed that the building under construction collapsed during torrential rainfall.

He added that emergency responders were on their way to the scene of the incident as of the time of filing this report.

This is coming barely two weeks after a two-storey building on Chris Igadi Street, in the Ago Palace Way area of Lagos State, collapsed.

Earlier, a three-storey building collapsed in the Ebute Metta area of the state leaving at least 10 persons dead.

The incident occurred on May 1, 2022.

After the tragic incident, the Lagos State Government ordered the immediate stoppage of approval for buildings above three floors in Ebute-Metta East and West.

The Lagos State Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Dr Idris Salako, in a statement, said the directive followed an audit of buildings in the area.

He said the low-lying nature of Ebute-Metta and its negative impact on some of the buildings, most of which showed serious defects, made it mandatory for the state government to apply special measures to save lives and property.

Salako added that the Lagos State Physical Planning Permit Authority (LASPPPA) had been directed to henceforth stop taking applications for approval above three floors in the area.

“To guarantee safety of lives and property by ensuring that we put a halt to lives being cut short by incidents of building collapse, the government has been compelled to invoke the relevant sections of the Lagos State Urban and Regional Planning and Development Law 2019, as amended, to address the crisis,” the commissioner stated.

Details later…

The Star

Segun Ojo