Emergency services on Thursday said they had called off the search for survivors of a building collapse that killed nine in Nigeria’s biggest city, Lagos, as anger mounted over dilapidated property and unscrupulous owners.
The building, which housed a primary school and nursery, came down without warning in the teeming Lagos Island area at mid-morning on Wednesday.
Firefighters and other emergency services worked through the night to find anyone still trapped. One body was recovered in the early hours, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said.
“We have gotten to ground zero,” added Kehinde Adebayo, spokesman for the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency. “The debris has been cleared.
“All those trapped have been evacuated and the rescue operation has ended,” he told AFP. Final casualty figures were still being compiled and would be announced later, he said.
NEMA has said that 37 people were rescued alive.
Some of the injured pupils in the building collapse at Ita-faji, Lagos Island, on Wednesday are in stable condition and still receiving adequate medical attention in some hospitals in Lagos.
A visit by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Correspondent to the General Hospitals in Marina and Gbagada in Lagos, on Thursday, showed that some of the patients had been stabilised, while others were still being attended to.
Names of the patients in stable condition had been posted at the General Hospital on Wednesday for easy identification of the victims by their relatives.
Relations of some the victims expressed gratitude to God for the survival of their children, thanking the medical team for their care. They told NAN on condition of anonymity that their loved ones had been stabilised and were receiving the needed treatment.
(NAN)
