By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Undisclosed number of persons have been reportedly trapped under the rubble after a seven-story building under construction on Wednesday caved in the Banana Island area of Lagos State, Nigeria’s commercial capital.
Those trapped include construction workers in the sight and food vendors in the area, our correspondent understands.
“A report of a storey building under construction was just received at Banana Island. Workers trapped. We are mobilising to respond,” the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in Lagos state confirmed the incident in a terse statement.
It is not clear if there is any casualty arising from the incident at the moment.
West Africa’s largest population, Nigeria has recorded escalation in incidents of building collapse in recent times. On November 1, 2021, a 21-storey building, which was being developed by Fourscore Homes, collapsed in the Ikoyi axis of the state.
Forty-six persons died in the incident while 15 others were rescued.
In May 2022, the collapse of a three-storey building in the Ebute-Meta axis of the state claimed at least eight lives.
Nigeria Society of Engineers, a body of engineers in Nigeria has repeatedly said that its members are not responsible for the high rate of building collapse in Nigeria, and has instead blamed it on sub-standard building materials.
