Following the heavy rainfall that lasted for several hours in Lagos on Tuesday, one person has been reportedly killed and unspecified number of others trapped under the rubbles of a building which collapsed in the Agidingbi area of the state.
Our correspondent gathered that the incident occurred at Amara Olu Street, Mechanic Village in Agidingbi, while the victims, whose identity could not be immediately ascertained, were taking shelter under the building during the downpour.
Officials of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, who confirmed the incident, disclosed that one of the two persons rescued from the rubbles of the collapsed building had died.
LASEMA said it received a distress call through the emergency toll-free line 112/767 at about 10.54 am about a mudslide on illegal shanties around Kuata Area by Amara Olu Street, Mechanic Village, Agidingbi, Ikeja.
“Three persons were discovered trapped under the mud. The agency’s ERT were able to rescue two people (a male and a female), while one adult female lost her life, her corpse was recovered by the agency’s emergency response team.
“The agency’s ERT and men of the Nigeria Police from Alausa Division, RRS and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, LASAMBUS, NEMA, were on ground for the recovery operation,” the agency said.
LASEMA General Manager, Michael Akindele, described the disaster area as a wetland and a buffer zone not habitable for human settlement.
He recalled that the state government had warned people living in flood-prone areas and wetlands to vacate such areas to prevent loss of lives, particularly with the resumption of the rains.
