Rescue efforts are still ongoing with at least 20 people rescued so far from the scene of a 2-storey building that collapsed in the Ojodu-Berger area of Lagos but the exact number of casualties remains unclear.
The building housed a popular restaurant and bar in Ojodu. When the incident happened some minutes before 9 am on Saturday, some of these eyewitnesses who are frequent visitors of the restaurant and bar had just left the building before the collapse.
Emergency responders struggled to control the crowd of onlookers. It was difficult to calm the crowd, as most of them refused to vacate the scene, for them, the emergency responders were slow in the search and rescue operation.
For the special adviser to the Lagos state governor on E-GIS and planning matters, Olajide Babatunde, the building had been abandoned for 15 years. He questioned why the old building which housed the restaurant was under construction after its permit had expired.
Equal Right Restaurant has just released a statement about the building collapse. According to the statement, about 30 people – including staff, customers, and people living nearby – were in or around the building when it collapsed. Luckily, local residents were quick to respond, they managed to rescue at least 7 people before the emergency services arrived. This brings the number of rescued persons to at least 20.
Emergency responders are still working to get to ground zero.
