Death toll rises to three in Lagos building collapse

The death toll from the building collapse at Ebute Meta, Lagos State, has increased to three. 

The building collapsed on Friday morning, Dec. 22, on Herbert Marculley Way, Ebute Meta. 

Mr Ibrahim Farinloye, the territorial coordinator of the National Emergency Management Agency, confirmed the death toll to newsmen in Lagos. 

The body of a 12-year-old boy and the bodies of two adults —a male and a female— were recovered from the rubble of the two-storey building. 

Farinloye added that the Lagos Building Control Agency had issued an evacuation notice several times on the building, and all the original occupants had packed out. 

“According to accounts of residents, before the collapse, a dog, which the people in the collapsed building had been taking care of, got to the building and started barking in a sorrowful manner and refused to eat or enter the building. 

“No sooner had the dog left than the building came down,” Farinloye said. 

He added that search and rescue operations were ongoing.