UPDATED: Death toll rises to 3, fatally injured victims rise to 9, in Lagos building collapsed

A Police Constable attached to Ikoyi Division, Risikat Balogun and two children were yesterday killed while nine other persons were in critical condition after two buildings collapsed in Lagos. The incident occurred at 16 and 17 Freeman Street, Lagos Island around 2am.

Witnesses said a defective three-storey building was the first to cave-in, adding that it collapsed on a family sleeping inside a nearby bungalow killing a seven-year-old boy, Abdulsalam Balogun.

While some of the occupants including a pregnant woman were rescued before emergency workers arrived the scene, it was gathered that the unnamed Policewoman and a three-year-old boy identified as Paul were later brought out dead.

The policewoman, witnesses said, was found trapped near the exit of the building as she was apparently trying to escape when she got crushed by the structure.

According to residents, victims of the collapsed building recently moved into the neighbourhood as previous tenants were evicted on grounds that repairs were to be undertaken only for the new occupants to be brought in as renovation was ongoing.

An eyewitness, Risikat Ope said she heard people shouting around 2am and when she came out to check what was going on, she saw the building coming down. “The boys in the area and the neighborhood police were already trying to rescue people when I came out. They first brought out four people and out of the four people, there was one dead body there then they brought out one small child who was also dead.

“Later, around 5am, fire service came and when they came, the boys told them that there were still four people underneath. When they brought them out, another person died so that makes it three people that died there. There are seven people in General Hospital. There are two siblings there at a private hospital here in Oshodi, Hakeem Hospital, one of them is dead and the other is still receiving treatment at the hospital. The child that died, Paul, today is his third birthday, and his older sibling is five-year-old. There are four shops there – one lady has a depot there. A tailor’s shop is also there and that of another woman selling rice. There are four people at the pent house, it seems they have been told to vacate that house before,” she said