Mother, child among 8 dead in Ebute-Meta building collapse

A mother and her child are recorded among eight persons confirmed dead in the tragic three-storey building that collapsed in the Ebute Meta, Yaba area of Lagos State.

The affected building, located at No. 38 Ibadan Street, off Herbert Macaulay Way, went down on Sunday night.

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) Zonal Coordinator in the South West, Ibrahim Farinloye, who confirmed the deaths on Monday also disclosed that 23 people have been rescued so far from the rubbles.

RELIABLESOURCENG.COM reports that the latest incident is the second building collapse to be recorded in Yaba, in almost three months.

Another three-storey building collapsed in the Onike area of Yaba on February 13, resulting in several casualties after the developer of the project reportedly returned to the site despite a stop-work order on the structure.

Farinloye said 23 people – seven children and 16 adults – trapped in the rubble have been brought out alive.

READ: Sanwo-Olu says 42 dead, 15 survivor recovered from Ikoyi collapsed building

Nine of those rescued, he stated, have been treated and discharged, adding that the Nigeria Red Cross was making provision for psycho-social and trauma counselling for them.

Apart from the mother and child earlier recovered dead, the NEMA official confirmed the death of six other victims, including an elderly man who had a hearing impairment and a young man simply identified as Tahin.

He revealed that another three-storey building located on 100 Lagos Street – about 200 metres away from the structure that collapsed on Sunday has shown signs of distress.

Farinloye stated that the building had since been marked as distressed, but its occupants have remained defiant.

He, however, said the building has been re-sealed and its occupants evacuated by officials of the state’s buildings control agency – LABSCA.