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Tag: building collapse

  • 2 die, 23 survive as three-storey building collapses in Lagos

    2 die, 23 survive as three-storey building collapses in Lagos

    The National Emergency Management Agency has confirmed the recovery of two dead bodies and rescue of 23 persons from a three-storey building that collapsed in Ebute Metta, Lagos.

    The Zonal Coordinator Southwest, NEMA, Mr Ibrahim Farinloye, who disclosed on Monday in Lagos, said the recovered bodies were those of a mother and her child, while the rescued persons included seven children and 16 adults.

    “Nine of those rescued alive have been treated and discharged. They returned to the scene, but have been taken away for proper custody while psycho-social and post-trauma counselling is being arranged for them by the Nigerian Red Cross,” Farinloye said.

    The three-Storey building collapsed at 24 Ibadan Str, Herbert Macaulay Way, Onyigbo on Sunday at about 10.56 p.m. However, rescue operations were still ongoing at the site.

  • Six members injured as Deeper Life Church building collapses

    Six members injured as Deeper Life Church building collapses

    No few than six members of the Deeper life Bible Church, located at Iragbo community in Badagry, Lagos state, were injured on Sunday, sustaining serious degrees of injuries when the building of the Church collapsed during heavy storm while the service was in progress.

    According to reports, the heavy rain which was later followed by a heavy storm led to the collapse of the Church building around 9:30 a.m.

    One of the members of the Church who was also a victim, Mr Topohozin Tunde, told NAN that six members of the church sustained serious injuries.

    “I also sustained a serious knee injury, but thank God no live was lost.

    “Just around 9:30 this morning, during the church service, there was a heavy storm which hit the church building, and before we could know what was happening, the whole church building collapsed.

    “Some were able to escape, while about six of us sustained serious injuries,” he said.

    Tunde said medical attention were given to them, but they were not given proper treatment because no medical doctor was available at the hospital.

    “Those that were seriously injured were taken to the General Hospital in Badagry for proper attention.

    “Since my injury is not much, I decided to take care of myself,” he said.

    Also speaking, Chief Thoma Agodi, the Baale of Iragbo community, said he was inside his palace when a resident came to inform him that the church building had collapsed.

    “We have to thank God that there is no fatality as a result of the collapse,” he said.

  • Ikoyi building collapse: COREN submits findings to inquest

    Ikoyi building collapse: COREN submits findings to inquest

    The Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) has submitted a report on its investigation into the Nov. 1, 2021 collapse of a 21-storey building on Gerard Road, Ikoyi, Lagos State.

    Mr Tomide Akinnawo, Chief Engineer and COREN’s Head of Lagos Laison Office, submitted the report while testifying before the inquest.

    Commending the report, the Coroner, Mr Oyetade Komolafe, said that it was detailed.

    He requested that additional two copies should be submitted to the inquest.

    During proceedings, Akinnawo told the coroner that the COREN investigative panel noticed that the project board mounted at the site of the collapsed building hid vital information about the construction.

    “The contractor did not give an address and phone number.

    “It is inappropriate, the project board hid a lot of sensitive and important information,” he said.

    The engineer said that it was the responsibility of surpervisory government agencies to point out the breach, when they visited the site.

    “The contractor or the client needed to have been sanctioned by the state development control bodies because information on the project board is not detailed.

    “COREN has mandate to visit sites, and anytime we visit sites, we limit our visit to the area of coverage which is the engineering aspect of that project,” he said.

    Akinnawo said that COREN discovered another structure (Block D) constructed behind the initial three high-rise structures at the site.

    The witness said that the investigative panel was not granted access to the site until the coroner ordered the access.

    “When we began work there, we discovered Block D. That Block D was at the back of the other buildings. It was an eight-storey building and it was meant to serve Blocks A, B and C.

    “When we saw the Block D, we could not ignore it, we had to include it in our report,” Akinnawo said.

    Responding to the coroner on whether the land mass of the site was large enough to accommodate the four structures, Akinnawo said that the contractor of the project breached town planning regulations.

    He said that the entrance to the site was also not appropriate for the magnitude of the structures.

    Under cross-examination by Mr Oluwamayokun David, counsel to Beyond Design Ltd., the witness said that in the course of his duties, he had encountered loggerheads between contractors and consultants.

    “The relationship between contractors and consultants in Nigeria is like cat and mouse. The contractor will want to cut corners which the consultants will not allow.

    “When a contractor continually violates quality control in his project, the duty of the consultant is to write through the project architect to the client.

    “If it fails the consultant will write through the project manager to COREN. If no action is taken, the consultant will resign,” he said.

    Akinnawo said that he first heard of Fourscore Heights after the building collapsed.

    He said that COREN was unable find staff of the company to interview during the investigation.

    Komolafe adjourned the inquest until April 29 for continuation of hearing.

    The building collapsed on Nov. 1, 2021, killing 50 persons including Mr Femi Osibona, the Managing Director of Fourscore Heights.

    NAN

  • Deaths from 2021 building collapse in Nigeria tripled COVID-19 figures – BCPG

    Deaths from 2021 building collapse in Nigeria tripled COVID-19 figures – BCPG

    The National President, Building Collapse Prevention Guild (BCPG), Mr Eddy Atumonyogo, on Saturday said building collapse claimed more lives in 2021 than COVID-19 in three years in Nigeria.

    Atumonyogo said this at Falomo, Lagos, during a walk against building collapse organised by BCPG as part of activities to mark the 2022 Builders’ Day weeklong activities, organised by the Lagos Chapter of the Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB) in collaboration with the BCPG as an annual event to sensitise governments, construction stakeholders and the public against collapse.

    BCPG has membership drawn from the seven built environment professionals which include builders, town planners, surveyors, architects, engineers, estate surveyors and valuers and quantity surveyors.

    The BCPG members marched from Falomo Bridge in Ikoyi to Lekki-Ikoyi Bridge Roundabout distributing fliers on building collapse prevention.

    The same rally held simultaneously from Medical Road in Ikeja to the Lagos State House of Assembly in Alausa.

    Atumonyogo said the rally was not a time to trade blames on actions or inactions but a time for all stakeholders and government to collaborate towards taming the menace in cities.

    Quoting a newspaper data, he said in Nov. 2021, at least 305 people died from building collapse in Nigeria.

    “This is about a quarter of those who died from Coronavirus in Nigeria from 2019 till date. Not even one per cent of the attention paid to the virus is being paid to this menace that is a mass murderer.

    “During the same period, it was reported that no fewer than 449 people got injured in 83 cases. These are only cases reported by the media. Lagos remains the epicenter of this ugly menace in Nigeria.

    “Amongst those who died within the same period were 42 innocent children who died when a building serving as their school on Massey Street, Lagos Island, collapsed while they were in session, crushing their tender lives and leaving their families in grief and inconsolable till date,’’ he said.

    He listed the causes of building collapse as man-made but required courageous actions of government, professionals, developers and all other stakeholders to correct.

    The BCPG President lamented the unfortunate Ikoyi 21-storey building collapse of Nov. 1, 2021.

    He advised built environment stakeholders to embrace best practices in the sector while appealing to the Lagos State Government to increase housing stock to absorb its growing population.

    He commended Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s announcement that buildings above six floors will now be reviewed by external consultants before approvals are granted.

    Atumonyogo urged the state government to collaborate with BCPG which has a network of professionals across the 37 Local Government Areas and Local Development Authorities for effective monitoring of construction sites.

    The President of the Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB), Prof. Yohana Izam, insisted that a shift in focus to integrity in construction was the only remedy to end embarrassment of building collapse in the nation.

    Izam, represented at the rally in Ikeja by Mr Adelaja Adekanbi, a former chairman, Lagos Chapter of NIOB, said building collapse had become a national embarrassment that could be corrected through upholding integrity.

    He commended the Lagos State Government’s Building Regulation which mandated that construction sites should be managed by professional/registered Builders.

    “This integrity driven building regulation of Lagos State is indeed highly recommended. I am also pleased to note that a good number of states are now towing the path of integrity,” he said.

    NAN

  • Collapsed 21-storey building had poor workmanship – SON

    Collapsed 21-storey building had poor workmanship – SON

    The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has revealed that the collapsed 21-storey high-rise building located on Gerard Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, which collapsed on Nov. 1, 2021, had poor workmanship.

    Two engineers and staff of SON, Mr Kareem Adisa and Mr Ibrahim Aliyu, said this while testifying on Thursday at an Ikeja Coroner’s Court.

    They were led in evidence by Mr Yusuf Lawan, the counsel to SON.

    The witnesses revealed that following the collapse of the high-rise, SON’s Special Task Force led by the Chairman, Mr Enebi Shuabu, immediately swung into action.

    They said members of the taskforce went to the site and collected samples for laboratory testing and analysis. The samples include: concrete rubbles, slabs and steel bars (iron rods).

    Adisa in his evidence, revealed that he was a Regional Director of Operations of SON and was also a member of SON’s Special Task Force.

    “The test report shows that the workmanship on the site and method of reinforcement were poor.

    “The coarse aggregate was so few and not well supervised. The mix proportions of the cement, sand and gravel were not correctly done.

    “If I am to give an example in lay man’s language, if he was supposed to use five caps he used three caps. If there was adequate supervision, it could have been corrected,” he said.

    Adisa, however, noted that most of the building materials conformed to standards when they were tested in the laboratory.

    Throwing light on the iron rods used at the site, Adisa said Fourscore Heights Ltd. had used six products from six different manufacturers.

    He said most of the iron rods conformed to standards except the 10mm iron rods.

    “The 10mm rods did not conform to standards.There was also poor workmanship in the placement of the reinforcements,” he said.

    When cross-examined by Mr Akin George, the counsel to the Lagos State Government, Adisa said SON had on its part carried out due diligence.

    “What we did before the collapse we did, which is by making all the verified products in the markets have the SON certification barcode.

    “It is now left for the town planning and building authorities to ensure that there is compliance with building standards,” he said.

    Aliyu, the second witness said he was the Assistant Chief Standards Engineer for SON and was also part of the Special Taskforce.

    He said the samples from the site of the building collapse were taken to the SON laboratory located in Enugu for testing and to two independent laboratories for a comparative analysis of the results.

    “Based on the test reports, majority of the samples met the requirements of SON. The two samples of 10mm and 16mm iron rods were less than the required standard.

    “The results from the three labs were in agreement with one another, the differences were not much,” he said.

    Responding to questions from George, Aliyu noted that some 10mm rods were placed in wrong areas during construction of the collapsed high-rise.

    “It could have been as a result of negligence that the 10mm rods were used in a different area,” he said.

    The Coroner, Mr Oyetade Komolafe, adjourned proceedings until Feb. 18 for continuation of hearing.

    The three high-rise buildings (Blocks A, B and C), which were situated on Gerard Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, Block B (21-storeys) collapsed killing 50 persons.

    A White Paper Report of a six-man panel set up by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu have recommended that the remaining high-rise buildings have failed structural integrity tests and will be pulled down through controlled demolition.

    The developer, Fourscore Heights Ltd., is also to be prosecuted by the Lagos State government due to negligence.

    NAN

  • Ikoyi Building Collapse: 5 victims still unidentified

    Ikoyi Building Collapse: 5 victims still unidentified

    A pathologist, Dr Sokunle Soyemi, has revealed that five deceased victims of the 21-storey building, which collapsed on Nov. 1, 2021 at Gerard Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, are yet to be identified.

    Soyemi, who is the acting Chief Medical Examiner of Lagos State, said this while testifying at an Ikeja Coroner’s Court on Thursday.

    The pathologist, in his testimony, said there were 50 victims of the collapsed building (47 male and three female); 45 have so far been identified and their ages range from 18 to 56-years.

    Soyemi said autopsies on the bodies commenced on Nov. 4, 2021 and lasted for 13-days until Nov. 13, 2021.

    Revealing the causes of death, he said, “so far we have identified 45 bodies out of 50. The autopsies revealed that 40 deceased had multiple injuries as cause of death.

    “Six had injuries to the head alone and died. One had bilateral fracture of the femure.”

    The pathologist said the remains were put in 53 body bags because an additional three body bags had contained body parts of the deceased victims.

    On the physical state of the corpses, the pathologist said the bodies could not be visually identified and samples had to be taken from the bodies for testing at the Lagos State DNA and Forensic Centre.

    “After about a month, we started receiving results from the lab. As we were receiving the results we were also releasing the bodies to families and up till now, we are still releasing bodies.

    “At present, of the 45 identified bodies, 42 have been released to family members while the remaining three have not been collected by family members.

    “When there was a call for family members to come and donate samples, some people who were not related to the deceased came forward and the samples could not match.

    “We had to call again for new samples from family members which came in about two weeks ago,” he said.

    Soyemi in his evidence revealed that he never visited the site of the collapsed building during the course of his duties. He also noted that death certificates had been issued for the deceased.

    The coroner, Mr Oyetade Komolafe, adjourned proceedings until Feb. 18 for continuation of hearing.

    Of the three high-rise buildings (Blocks A, B and C), which were situated on Gerard Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, Block B (21-storeys), collapsed killing 50 persons.

    One of the deceased was Mr Femi Osibona, the Managing Director of Fourscore Heights Ltd., the contractor of the project.

  • Death toll in Lagos collapse building rises to 4

    Death toll in Lagos collapse building rises to 4

    One more dead body was on Sunday morning recovered from the three-storey building that collapsed in Yaba area of Lagos, bringing the total casualty figure to four.

    Mr Ibrahim Farinloye, Zonal Coordinator South-West, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), confirmed the development on Sunday.

    Farinloye said that out of the two survivors of the collapsed building, only one of them was actually trapped while the second person, a teenager, escaped by a sheer luck after he complained of hunger.

    He said that the building collapsed few minutes after the teenager left the structure to go and buy food.

    The NEMA Zonal Coordinator added that residents of the area mobilised resources to rescue the only survivor from the rubble.

    Farinloye said that the operation has been concluded.

    He said that rescue and recovery operation was carried out by NEMA, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, the fire service and the Police.

    The three storey building on Saturday collapsed at No. 16, Akanbi Crescent, off Adesina Street, Harvey, Sabo, Yaba area of Lagos, trapping five persons.

  • Lagos State Government arrests owner of collapsed building

    Lagos State Government arrests owner of collapsed building

    The Lagos State Government says it has arrested the developer of the three-storey building under construction that collapsed at No. 16 Akanbi Crescent, Onike Area, Lagos, on Saturday afternoon.
    The State Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Dr Idris Salako, in a statement, said, “the government moved in swiftly to minimize impact at the site around 3.30 p.m. on Saturday.
    ”Preliminary findings indicated that the site had been sealed off twice by the Lagos State Building Control Agency in 2021 for non-compliance with building regulations, after which the site was abandoned.
    “However, the developer later broke the government seal, sneaked into the site and recommenced construction without official authorisation.
    “As at 9:00 pm, one person had been pulled out alive, while two deaths were recorded.
    “The developer in charge of the site has since been arrested and handed over to police, while rescue operation is ongoing,” he said.
  • [UPDATED] Lagos building collapse: Death toll rises to 3, 2 rescued alive

    [UPDATED] Lagos building collapse: Death toll rises to 3, 2 rescued alive

    One more dead body has been recovered from the three-storey building that collapsed in Yaba area of Lagos on Saturday afternoon.

    This raised the death toll to three, while the number of rescued persons remained two, just as rescue efforts are still on.

    Mr Ibrahim Farinloye, Zonal Coordinator, South-West, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), confirmed the development to newsmen on Saturday night.

    Farinloye said that the building was said to have given signs with rubles falling from it on Thursday.

    “It was gathered that when one of the neighbours called their attention to it, they told him off that it was as a result of work going on.

    “However, close observations revealed that the building had tilted forward,” Farinloye said.

    The Zonal Coordinator, however, said that proper investigation on the case of the collapse will be carried out by the state government.

    This, he noted, is to determine the cause of the collapse after the emergency phase at the site.

    The three-storey building collapsed at No. 16 Akanbi Crescent, off Adesina Street, Harvey, Yaba area of Lagos, trapping about five persons.

  • Collapse of 21-storey Lagos building an engineering failure – Council

    Collapse of 21-storey Lagos building an engineering failure – Council

    The Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) has described the collapse of the 21 storey building in Ikoyi, Lagos in November, 2021 as an engineering failure.

    The President of COREN, Mr Ali Rabiu, disclosed this at the submission of report by the Special Investigations Panel of the Collapsed 21 storey building in Ikoyi Lagos on Thursday, in Abuja.

    Rabiu assured the panel that COREN would ensure that the recommendations were implemented by government in line with its mandate.

    He said that there might be two things to learn from the exercise going forward after seeing what went wrong, adding that measures would be taken to correct the anomalies.

    According to him, COREN will sanction negligence by practitioners if there is any engineer or any engineering practitioner involved in this collapse.

    “I want to assure you that COREN will by the mandate given to it by the act, ensure that such practitioners are sanctioned in accordance with the law.

    “And, where they are not practitioners and they are found involved, we will ensure that we prosecute them in the court of competent jurisdiction.

    “But in the meantime, the report will be forwarded to the appropriate organs of government and an executive summary and advice on the implementation of your recommendations.

    “Once again, I want to use this opportunity to console the people of Lagos state for what happened and we pray that such never happen again,’’ he said.

    The Chairman of the panel, Mr George Okoroma, while submitting the report to the president of COREN, said the panel had completed its task.

    Okoroma said that the report was given to the COREN President and government to study, before making it available to the public.

    He said that the report had been carefully documented and would be presented to COREN for them to study and after which it would be made public.

    The panel was set up by COREN President following the collapse of a 21-storey building on Nov. 1, 2021 at Ikoyi killing 46 persons and rescue of 15 alive.

    It was mandated to carry out a comprehensive inquisition on the remote and/or immediate cause(s) of the collapse among other terms of reference.