Lagos – Four people were killed and three rescued on Friday when a three-storey building collapsed in Nigeria’s commercial capital Lagos, emergency services said, in the latest such tragedy in the country.
Building collapses are common in Africa’s most populous nation where many reside in dilapidated structures and construction safety regulations are often ignored.
“Four bodies (were) recovered – two males and two females – and they have been handed over… for onward deposit to mortuary,” Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency said.
He added that three people had been rescued after they were trapped under the debris of the residential building in the Mushin area of the city of over 20 million inhabitants.
Four people have been confirmed dead in yet another building collapse in Lagos.https://t.co/JELcG9eoTm pic.twitter.com/o7Dil1s3ni
— Channels Television (@channelstv) September 23, 2022
He said those injured had been hospitalised, while a search and rescue operation was still ongoing.
Bad workmanship, low-quality materials and corruption to bypass official oversight are often blamed for Nigerian building disasters.
Earlier this month, six people were killed when a seven-storey building under construction collapsed in the city.
There have also been deadly building collapses in other parts of Nigeria in recent months.
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has called for improved construction standards, saying the frequency of building collapses was “increasingly embarrassing”.
Since 2005, at least 152 buildings have collapsed in Lagos, according to a South African university researcher investigating construction disasters.
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Source: AFP
Picture: Getty Images
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