Occupants of Collapsed Lagos Building Ignored Warning Cracks, Locals Claim

People living in a two-storey block in the Oyingbo part of Lagos State turned a blind eye to clear signs of damage, such as wide splits in the walls, even after officials marked the place as unsafe and urged everyone to leave, according to neighbours who helped in the frantic search for those trapped inside when it fell down early on Monday.

The building on Cole Street, close to the Cemetery bus stop, gave way just after midnight, shortly after a heavy shower had stopped around 1 a.m. Those caught up in the rubble raised desperate cries for help, which brought nearby folk rushing over to dig them out with their bare hands before rescue crews got there. In the end, teams pulled 26 survivors from the mess, including seven men, four women, and four children, though all needed hospital care for their hurts. One body was found amid the wreckage, raising the number of deaths to one.

A woman who ran a shop in the building, Mrs Adaeze, arrived in the dark after a phone call woke her up. She stood watching as workers sifted through the ruins for her stock, which she said was worth millions of naira. Much of it lay ruined under the fallen slabs. She told reporters that state authorities had sent out notices for months telling tenants to pack up because the structure was falling apart, but the landlord kept putting it off. Mrs Adaeze asked those in charge to step in with some aid to soften the blow of her losses.

A man named Habeeb Jamiu, who lives close by, said he was up late and not far off when word spread about the crash. He joined a few others in the dash to the spot, where the sounds of people in pain guided their efforts until help arrived with proper tools. Mr Jamiu admitted the place had looked ready to tumble for ages, with cracks so obvious that anyone walking past would shake their head at why families were still inside.

Another neighbour, Hakeem Ibrahim, had been out near the roundabout when he spotted police cars and an ambulance heading that way. He followed them and found a crowd yelling for more hands to join the pull-out. By then, locals had already freed a few from the heap. Like the others, he pointed out the building’s worn state as something no one could miss.

Those in charge of firefighting and quick-response work in Lagos State, led by Mrs Margaret Adeseye, gave an update saying the search was still going on for anyone else under the debris. She called it a continuing effort at a block that had been flagged as weak long before it buckled on those sleeping within. The dead person had been taken away, and the 26 who made it out alive were rushed to nearby clinics for checks and treatment, though none were up for talking to the press yet.

Workers from the state group that watches over building safety, along with helpers from the Red Cross and local watch teams, stayed on site through the night to comb the area and make sure no one else was missed. Some of the injured got first aid right there before heading to a hospital nearby.

This sad event adds to a string of such falls in Lagos this year, where old or badly kept-up homes keep coming down and costing lives. Back on 25 September, six people escaped with hurts when another two-level place tumbled on Modupeola Street in the Alimosho area. Just over a week before that, on 16 September, two builders were freed after four days stuck in the remains of a drop in Ebute Metta. In both cases, probes found skimped work or ignored red flags much like here, where lost items included stacks of drinks in boxes and a few motorbikes crushed in the fall.