By Kamil Opeyemi
The Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) on Sunday said that a two-storey and four-storey building beside each other collapsed in Kosofe area of the state.
The Permanent Secretary of the agency, Dr Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, in a statement, said that the collapse happened at No. 47-49 Oduntan St., Kosofe, Lagos.
“Upon arrival of the agency’s responders at the scene, a 2-storey building and a 4-storey building situated beside each other was found to have collapsed at the aforementioned address.
“Investigation conducted by the response team, revealed that the collapse could be attributed to ageing and poor maintenance on the part of the owner.
“Further investigation revealed that the staircase of the building caved in.
“Unfortunately, a male adult fell due to the impact of the collapse from the topmost floor and has been taken to the hospital,” he said.
He said residents of the building had been asked to vacate the building under the supervision of the combined team of LASEMA, Rapid Response Squad, Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) and Lagos Neighbourhood Safety Corps (LNSC), in order to avert further secondary incident.
He, however, said that the building would be pulled down, as it had failed structural integrity test as confirmed by LASBCA official at the scene.
“With this, the building is a threat to the public and adjoining building,” he said.
He said that the agency’s response team and paramedics, RRS, LABSCA and LNSC were at the incident scene to salvage the situation.