A building collapse occurred on Oremeta Street in the Ojodu-Berger area of Lagos State on Saturday morning, trapping an unknown number of people beneath the rubble. The multi-storey building, which housed a restaurant on its ground floor, caved in around 8 am.
Concerns are raised about the building’s structural integrity, with a patron revealing that many times, he had seen water drip from the decking of the building even when it was not raining.
Speaking at the scene, the Permanent Secretary of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Damilola Oke-Osanyitolu, assured journalists that emergency responders were committed to reaching the deepest part of the site.
“We will get to ground zero to search for other victims still buried under the rubble,” he said.
A regular patron of the restaurant confided that the building had long shown visible signs of structural weakness.
“I usually go to the restaurant to eat and drink. Many times, I had seen water drip from the decking of the building even when it was not raining. People raised the alarm when they started putting a third structure on the building, but nothing was done,” he said.
Another resident, Abiola David, shared that a car parked inside the premises, along with its owner and his son, were believed to be trapped when the building collapsed.
Emergency teams are continuing their efforts to clear the debris in hopes of rescuing more victims.
