TVC N. Two construction workers, identified as Wasiu and Abdullahi, lost their lives on Thursday after a structure mounted on a building under construction collapsed on NICON Town Estate, Admiralty Way, Lekki, Lagos State.
Another worker, identified only as Yakub, was said to have sustained serious injuries and was rushed to a general hospital after he was rescued from the rubble.
It was learnt that the three men were among workers employed to work on the one-storeyed building. The ‘form work’ erected on the building was said to have caved in, trapping the victims. Officials of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, the Lagos State Ambulance Service and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, were said to have responded to the incident.
The General Manager of LASEMA, Mr. Adeshina Tiamiyu, said the remains of the victims had been deposited in a morgue.
He said, “We received a report at about 11.40am on Thursday regarding the partial collapse of a building on NICON Town Estate, Admiralty Way, Lekki.
“Investigation conducted by the agency’s Emergency Response Team showed that the structure was undergoing casting of roofing beam and parapet facial, when it collapsed. Mixed concrete and the poker vibrator at the site collapsed on some of the workers on site.
“Two adult males, Wasiu and Abdullahi, died while another adult male, Yakub, sustained some injuries and wasn taken to a hospital.”
Tiamiyu said the agency cordoned off the building for further investigation to be carried out by other government agencies.
The spokesperson for the National Emergency Management Agency, South West Zone, Ibrahim Farinloye, said the survivor was first given first aid before he was rushed to the general hospital.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Olarinde Famous-Cole, said the police assisted in controlling a crowd of residents that besieged the scene of the incident.
He noted that investigations had commenced into the collapse.
The General Manager of the Lagos State Building Control Agency, Oladotun Olasoji, said no part of the building collapsed, adding that a structure mounted on the building gave way.
He said, “There was no collapse of any sort. It was the form work that was erected on the building that fell and killed the workers. It had nothing to do with the building itself. The form work is the temporary structure you put together to help you give shape to the building. Beyond mere assumption, we have commissioned some workers to do a thorough investigation into the case.”
