Lagos building collapse kills nine and injures 27
Lagos officials said rescue crews recovered nine bodies after a three-storey building fell in the Alakija area, with 27 people pulled out injured.
By Daniel Okafor · Business Editor
3 min read
Nine people died after a three-storey residential building collapsed in Lagos, Nigerian authorities said, adding to long-running safety concerns in the country’s commercial hub. Lagos State officials said 27 other people were rescued with injuries after the building came down on Thursday.
The state commissioner for information gave the casualty figures on Friday, according to Al Jazeera and Reuters. Officials had not determined what caused the collapse.
The building stood in Alakija, near the Lagos-Badagry Expressway in Satellite Town, on the southwestern edge of Lagos. Authorities said people were inside when it fell, including residents and office workers.
Lagos State Emergency Management Agency said emergency crews mounted a joint response after the collapse. Teams from LASEMA, the National Emergency Management Agency and the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service searched the wreckage through Thursday and into the night.
By Friday morning, LASEMA said the rescue operation had ended. The agency said responders recovered nine bodies in all, including four adults who were found dead before rescue teams reached the site.
LASEMA said five more victims were later found in the debris, including a two-year-old girl. The agency did not release the names of the dead in the account reported by Al Jazeera and Reuters.
Shops and homes in the collapsed building
Officials said the structure contained homes as well as small businesses. According to authorities, tenants shared the building with cyber cafes, a photo studio and mobile phone repair shops.
The surrounding district is a crowded residential and commercial area, according to the account by Al Jazeera and Reuters. The neighbourhood has older housing and small businesses serving a largely working-class community.
Reuters photographs from the scene showed a rescue worker searching through the rubble. The image caption said the building collapsed on June 25 and that the search continued the next day.
Governor orders checks on nearby buildings
Lagos Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has directed the Lagos State Building Control Agency to inspect neighbouring structures, LASEMA said. The agency said the governor ordered structural integrity assessments and enforcement of building code compliance in the area.
Authorities have not said whether any adjoining buildings were evacuated or found unsafe. The official account did not give an age for the collapsed structure or identify its owner.
Building failures have repeatedly occurred in Lagos, Nigeria’s financial capital, according to Al Jazeera and Reuters. The report cited rapid urban growth, poor-quality construction materials and weak regulatory enforcement as factors that have put residents at risk over time.
The collapse in Alakija prompted a multi-agency emergency response, but the immediate search phase was closed by Friday morning, LASEMA said. Officials said the next step included safety checks around the site while investigators worked to establish why the building gave way.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.