Throughout the day, relief efforts were activated to try to find survivors in the middle of the rubble. On Wednesday morning, a four-storey school building collapsed in Lagos Island, a popular district of Nigeria’s economic capital. Dozens of people were trapped, many of them children. All afternoon, a bulldozer tried to clear the rubble to facilitate the access of the rescuers to the building.
“ 37 people were released alive and eight people were found dead, “ finally announced in the evening an official of the Agency of Emergency Management of the State of Lagos (Sema), Ibrahim Farinloye, in a statement.
“ It’s sad to lose precious lives in an accident, especially when it comes to children (…), “ said President Muhammadu Buhari in a statement. May God grant everyone affected by this accident courage and support .
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 affected by this sad incident fortitude and succour.
According to AFP, which reports testimonies of residents, the building, in very bad condition, was marked as being demolished. The governor of Lagos State, who said his “ deep sadness “ indicated that a “ thorough investigation “ was going to be opened to determine the responsibilities.
Our response team is doing everything possible to rescue more people and provide medical attention to survivors. pic.twitter.com/chfTdBdxMn
