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'Help! My Children Are Under the Rubble': Another Lagos Building Collapse
30 June 2009
Lagos — Bola was crying and refusing to be consoled, for her husband and children were trapped under the rubble of yet another collapsed building in Lagos.The distraught woman ran from place to place, crying for help from anyone and everyone.
"Help me! Help me! My husband is still there! My three children are trapped! I can hear their cries! Help!" she screamed, hysterically.
Some of the Lagos State government officials assured her that they would do their best to ensure that all members of her family were rescued, but the assurance seemed to fall on unwilling ears.
Five persons were confirmed dead when a two-storey building located within the Railway compound, Iddo, Ebute Metta, Lagos, collapsed in the wee hours of yesterday.
Some 30 other lucky ones who escaped death by the whiskers are still undergoing treatment at the General Hospital, Lagos, for various injuries sustained in the incident.
A yet-to-be-ascertained number of persons were still being trapped under the rubble while efforts were still on to rescue those who were trapped.
An unconfirmed estimate put the death toll at 10.
A combined team of police officers from the Railway Police Command, the Lagos State Police Command and medical officials from the Lagos State Ambulances Services (LASEMBUS), men of the Federal Fire Service, Nigerian Red Cross and members of the community formed the bulk of rescue workers.
The rescue team was seen using manual method to pull out victims from under the debris, while policemen had a terrible time to ward off hoodlums who besieged the place in search of what they could steal.
"Some of us were still sleeping when we suddenly had a terrible noise. At first, I was afraid of coming out of my house, but later, I heard the wailing of the inhabitants of the house calling for help," a middle aged man, who simply identified himself as Baba Sule, said.
He said that the house might have collapsed as a result of Friday's heavy downpour which almost submerged the entire area.
National newspaper checks revealed that the house was equally used as a warehouse. Investigations also showed that the house was between 40 and 50 years old. The owner died some years ago, but it was being managed by one of his sons.
All the inhabitants of the collapsed building were still sleeping at the time of the incident. Witnesses put the casualty figure to be as high as 20, while property was also destroyed.
National newspaper also learnt that the first body that was pulled out of the collapsed building at about 7am yesterday was a woman. She was popularly called "Mama Onyinye". The body was immediately wheeled into a waiting state government ambulance.
The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr. Frank Mba, who confirmed the incident, put the death toll at about five.
Mba, a Superintendent of Police, also confirmed that about 30 persons were rescued while 28 others were still receiving medical attention at the Lagos State General Hospital.
"We got a report that a two-storey building located within the Railway compound, Ebute Metta had collapsed. Conscious of the fact that the Railway Command might need some support and with the realisation that those trapped would need help, the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, Mr. Marvel Akpoyibo, sent a detachment of anti-riot policemen to the scene," he added.
An on-the-spot assessment, according to him, revealed that the house was a two-storey building with its ground floor being used as a warehouse. He explained that those still trapped were people who lived on the first and second floors.
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