One person has died and two others were rescued after a two-storey building being manually demolished collapsed in the Aboru area of Lagos State.
The incident occurred around 12:56am on Thursday at No. 42, Governors Road, Aboru, in the Alimosho Local Government Area of the state.
The Permanent Secretary of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, confirmed the incident in a statement, saying the agency’s Alpha Eagle Response Team was deployed immediately after receiving a distress call.
He said initial assessment indicated that the structure caved in while demolition work was ongoing, leaving some workers trapped beneath the debris.
He added, “On arrival, first responders confirmed that the structure had collapsed during demolition activities, with workers trapped under the debris.”
Oke-Osanyintolu said LASEMA activated the state’s Emergency Response Plan and assumed coordination of the rescue operation alongside other emergency responders.
Two adult males were pulled out alive from the rubble and treated at the scene with first aid by personnel of the Lagos State Ambulance Service before being transferred to a nearby medical facility.
One other adult male was, however, found dead under the collapsed structure.
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“Through a coordinated search and rescue operation, two adult males were extricated alive from the rubble and were promptly administered life-saving first aid by personnel of the Lagos State Ambulance Service, LASAMBUS, before being moved to a nearby health facility for further medical attention.
Sadly, one adult male was recovered dead from beneath the collapsed structure. The agency commiserates with the family of the deceased and prays for the quick recovery of the injured,” Oke-Osanyintolu noted.
He said personnel from LASEMA, the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service and LASAMBUS were jointly involved in the rescue operation.
The affected location was also cordoned off to protect residents and provide emergency personnel with a safe environment to carry out their duties.
The Permanent Secretary called on residents and property developers to observe building regulations and ensure that only certified professionals are engaged for construction and demolition projects.
He said, “Any suspicious or unsafe building activity should be reported immediately to the Agency through the 767 and 112 toll-free emergency numbers.”
Oke-Osanyintolu further said the Lagos State Government was committed to strengthening emergency response operations across the state, including decentralising response units as part of efforts to achieve a 10-minute response time.
The incident follows another building collapse reported on June 25 in the Alakija area of Lagos, where at least eight people died and 26 others were rescued.
According to Oke-Osanyintolu, the three-storey building, situated on Old Ojo Road by Alakija Bus Stop, off the Lagos-Badagry Expressway in Satellite Town, collapsed around 11:37am, leading to a large-scale emergency operation involving several agencies.