Death toll climbs to 22 in Lagos high-rise collapse

Two more bodies were pulled out early Wednesday from the debris of a collapsed Nigeria’s Lagos High-Rise Building, bringing the death toll to 22 people, the emergency services said.

The 21-storey building was still under construction when it crumbled on Monday in the upscale Ikoyi neighborhood of Nigeria’s commercial capital.

Rescuers said Wednesday they had recovered 22 dead bodies so far and rescued nine people who survived, but construction workers feared dozens of their colleagues were trapped inside. We recovered two male bodies early this morning, bringing the toll to 22,” Ibrahim Farinloye of the National Emergency Management Agency told AFP. The number of survivors still stood at nine, he said, adding that search and rescue operations were still on.

The hope of finding more survivors appeared to dim as the rescue operation entered the third day on Wednesday.
We won’t give up until we reach ground zero,” Farinloye said, adding that bigger equipment was brought in Tuesday evening for the operation. He had earlier said rescue workers had been communicating with other survivors still trapped under the destroyed building.

Distraught relatives and friends of the victims have been besieging the scene since Monday, seeking information on their fate. Damilola Otunla, 29, sat on the pavement across the street pursuing a three-day vigil for her brother Bob-Oseni Wale, 50, believed to have been inside the high-rise when it collapsed.

When she heard the news of the disaster on Monday, she immediately rushed to the scene from her home in neighboring Ogun state.

Wearing the same grey hoodie, black shorts, and flip-flops since Monday, Damilola looked sad, her eyes empty, as she recalled how her much older brother acted like a father. He took me like his own daughter,” she added.

She was angry with the slow pace of the daily rescue efforts, which had not started as of 8:30 am Wednesday. t is like they have made their decision already,” she said.

Other family members were also at the scene. Bob-Oseni lives in the US state of Maryland but had been home for the past few months and was visiting a friend working on the building site, his family said. He was meant to fly back on Monday when the tragedy happened. An inquiry found the building had been built illegally and had structural flaws.

Two years later, at least 60 people were killed when a roof fell in on a church in Uyo, the capital of Akwa Ibom state, in the east of the country.