At least eight people, including a baby, have died, while 26 others were rescued after a three-storey building collapsed in the Alakija area of Lagos State on Thursday, June 25.
The building, a shopping complex on Old Ojo Road near Alakija Bus Stop in Satellite Town, collapsed at about 11:40 a.m., trapping an unknown number of occupants beneath the rubble.
The Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) said emergency responders had recovered eight bodies and rescued 26 people from the debris as of 4:20 p.m.
The Permanent Secretary of LASEMA, Damilola Oke-Osanyintolu, said rescue operations were ongoing to locate and extricate any remaining victims.
“The search and rescue operation is still ongoing,” Oke-Osanyintolu said.
The latest casualty figure marked a sharp increase from an earlier assessment, which confirmed the rescue of two people and the recovery of one body shortly after emergency teams arrived at the scene.
Oke-Osanyintolu said responders from LASEMA, the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA), the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), and other emergency agencies were deployed to the site.
He added that several shop owners and other occupants were inside the building when it collapsed.
“There are reports that additional persons, including shop owners who had resumed business activities in the complex, may still be trapped,” he said.
The collapse triggered panic in the busy commercial area as residents, traders and passers-by gathered while emergency workers searched the rubble for survivors.
The Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service said it received a distress call at 11:37 a.m. and deployed personnel from the Ijegun-Egba Fire Station, who arrived at the scene by 11:49 a.m.
The agency said its operatives immediately began search-and-rescue operations alongside other emergency responders.
The Director of the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, Margaret Adeseye, said the building was occupied at the time of the collapse and disclosed that 10 people were rescued alive and handed over to medical personnel for treatment.
“10 persons have been rescued alive with varying degrees of injuries and have been handed over to medical personnel for necessary treatment,” Adeseye said.
She added that rescue operations remained ongoing to ensure no victim was left trapped beneath the debris.
The fire service said personnel from the Federal Fire Service (FFS), the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), the Nigerian Navy, the Lagos Neighbourhood Safety Corps (LNSC) the Nigerian Red Cross Society (NRCS) and other emergency agencies participated in the operation.
Authorities are yet to determine the cause of the collapse.
In recent years, the Lagos State Government has intensified enforcement through the Lagos State Building Control Agency, including sealing and demolishing distressed structures considered unsafe.
However, recurring building collapses continue to raise concerns over compliance with safety standards and the effectiveness of regulatory enforcement in the state.
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