By Uche Amunike
A total of nine people have been rescued, from a sinking building in Maryland, by the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service after the torrential rainfall that lasted for about four hours on Monday.
According to a statement released by the South West Coordinator of National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Ibrahim Farinloye, officials of the agency were deployed to rescue the trapped victims immediately after they got a distress call to that effect.
His words: ‘NEMA received a distressed alert on a sinking storey building where nine people were said to be trapped. The building is located at 47 Akinwunmi street, Akinwunmi North Estate, Mende, Maryland, Ikeja.
‘The torrential rainfall, which lasted for about four hours in the early hours of the day, flooded lots of communities in Lagos State. The NEMA advance team upon close observations called for more reinforcement of personnel.’
Farinloye stated that it was one of the victims, named Blessing, who confirmed that up to nine people, who were mostly women were trapped in the sinking building in Maryland after it became submerged. He also affirmed that the landlord of the building escaped with a ladder when NEMA questioned him for failing to reach out to emergency responders, before someone from the office of one of the trapped victims contacted NEMA.
Hear him: ‘The agencies on the ground now are LASEMA, Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, and Police Disaster Management Unit. The rescue activities have commenced, and all the nine trapped ladies have been successfully rescued’, he added.
According to data gathered yesterday from Lagos State Emergency Management Agency ((LASEMA) activities, 31 building collapse incidents have been recorded between January and July in Lagos state, with 24 buildings collapses and 6 buildings partially collapsed.
In last Sunday’s incident at the Palace Estate in Oba Abiodun Oniru Road in Victoria Island, where six people died, the state recorded about 75 fatalities in the present administration.
The new Lagos State Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Engr Omotayo Bamgbose-Martins has however assured to introduce reforms that will put a stop to the problem of building collapse in the construction industry in the state.
Speaking, during a round table discussion organized by Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) at Ikeja, Friday, with stakeholders, he stressed on ways to end the menace of building collapse, while reassuring Lagos residents that changes and reforms to safeguard lives and investments would be introduced in order to avoid cases like that of the sinking building in Maryland.
He called for attitudinal change and the need for building collapses to be a thing of the past, stressing that this is the time to stop talking and begin to take action. He also asked developers, professionals and individuals to aid in fighting the menace by ensuring quality control through the Lagos State Materials Testing Laboratory, adding that drastic measures will be taken against changing of building designs from the originally approved ones.
