Search for survivors ends a day after Lagos building collapse

Nigerian officials have called off search-and-rescue efforts a day after a building, with a school on the third floor, collapsed in Lagos with an unknown number of people inside.

On Thursday, National Emergency Management Agency official Ibrahim Farinloye told The Associated Press that the workers had reached the foundation of the collapsed building and did not expect to find more people.

The decision to call off the search was protested by some anguished families.

At least eight people are thought to have died but the toll could rise.

Farinloye declined to give updated numbers for the dead and missing. Late on Wednesday, officials said 37 people were freed and an unknown number of people are still missing.

“Emergency workers are moving material out of the location because they believe the operations are over, but the locals insist that operations must continue because they believe that there are many people still trapped under the rubble,” said Al Jazeera’s Ahmed Idris, reporting from the scene. 

A crowd of thousands of people cheered on Wednesday as dust-covered, shocked-looking children were pulled from the rubble.  

Residents are continuing the search, convinced there are more bodies under the rubble [Afolabi Sotunde/Reuters]

Marked for demolition

It is not yet known what caused the collapse of the building, which stood in a crowded neighbourhood at the heart of Nigeria’s commercial capital.

Building collapses are frequent in Nigeria, where new structures often go up without regulatory oversight.

I’m extremely saddened by the news of the collapsed building in Itafaaji area of Lagos. It touches one to lose precious lives in any kind of mishap, particularly those so young and tender. May God grant everyone affected by this sad incident fortitude and succour.

— Muhammadu Buhari (@MBuhari) March 13, 2019

Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, said the building, which had been marked for demolition in 2017, was classified as residential and that the school was operating illegally.

It also housed shops, offices and residential units.

In a Twitter post on Wednesday, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari said he was “extremely saddened” by the incident.

“It touches one to lose precious lives in any kind of mishap, particularly those so young and tender,” Buhari said, urging the state government to do “all that is needful, so that such tragic developments do not recur”.

Obiora Manafa with the Standards Organization of Nigeria told reporters that they would analyse samples of the collapsed building’s concrete and steel bars “to ascertain the quality … and know whether they complied with the national building code”.

SOURCE:
Al Jazeera and news agencies