An unidentified policewoman was among the three people killed when a three-storey building collapsed overnight on Freeman Street in Lagos Island on Saturday, the police have said.
State Police Public Relations Officer, Bala Elkana, confirmed the death of the policewoman said to be a constable, but did not reveal her name.
Emergency responders combing the scene of the collapsed building had recovered three corpses and rescued no fewer than nine persons alive from the rubble.
Elkana, who commiserated with the bereaved families, said, “A constable was part of the people that died when the building collapsed at Freeman Street in Lagos Island. The constable works with the Ikoyi Police Division but lives in the building. The building collapsed around 3am.”
Director-General, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, had earlier said all the corpses were taken to the mortuary, adding that the tragedy struck in the middle of the night while the victims were asleep inside the building.
Oke-Osanyintolu had said, “The Agency responded to emergency calls on the collapsed building at Freeman Street, in the Lagos Island area of Lagos State. Upon arrival at the incident scene around 4am, a three-storey building was discovered to have totally collapsed on people asleep inside.
“Nine victims have been extricated from the rubble alive while three bodies were recovered dead. Their remains were transported to the mortuary by SEHMU while pre-hospital care has been administered to the nine victims by LASEMA and LASAMBUS.”