5 escape death in Lagos collapsed building

No fewer than five persons cheated death when a three-storey building in Ojo Alaba, Lagos collapsed in the early hours of yesterday. It was gathered that the first part of the building still under construction on Adeyemi Street, People’s Bus Stop, Ojo Alaba, collapsed at about 2:00a.m, but no life was lost. As gathered, the ground and the first floors of the building were designated as warehouses, while second floor comprised three flats of two bedrooms each. Residents said the deafening sound of the collapsed building during a downpour on Wednesday night woke them up. They stated that the planks for the roofing of the building, had been set, awaiting roofing with corrugated sheets. Many of the residents of Adeyemi Street, who did not want their names in print, stated that no fewer than five construction workers escaped death during the incident. Some of the construction workers at the site, were said to have been sleeping in the building in the past few months. “The building did not collapse at once. It was in bits. The first part collapsed at about 2:00am when rain was falling. We heard the loud sound and we all woke up. “But the workers that slept in the building were lucky. The part of the building where they slept did not collapse. The first part that collapsed allowed time for them to move out before other parts began to collapse,” an elderly person in the community said. He also accused some officials of the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) of shaddy deal in marking the house yesterday morning. “The LASBCA officials did not mark the building until this (yesterday) morning. And they backdated the marking to April 7, whereas the building partially collapsed yesterday, April 10. “I know that the owner of the building obtained all necessary documents from the Lagos State Government before the construction started. I wonder why the officials of LASBCA would hurriedly come and mark the building this (yesterday) morning. The construction started more than six months ago,” he stated. Checks revealed that the markings on the fence stated, OJ/7-4-14/LASBCA. Another markings on the main building was, DH/LAS/BCA/OJ. When Daily Sun visited the scene, neither the owner of the building, nor the engineer that supervised the construction was around. But some workers were sighted on the first floor, using hammers and other construction equipment to clear the debris. A businessman in the area, Mr. Samuel Nnodim, said it was a surprise that the building collapsed partially. “There was no reason for it to collapse at all. We need to say the truth. The supervising engineer deployed good construction equipment to the site,” he said.