2-Storey Church Building Collapses, One Person Dies

One person has been killed as a two-storey building under construction collapsed at Ojodu area of Lagos, Southwest Nigeria.
P.M. NEWS gathered that the building collapsed around 4.05 pm today, with seven construction workers resting under it, while the eighth
 person, a boy had gone on errand for the team leader.

Loud noise was heard around 4.05 pm when the building, located at Number 19 Bashiru Street, Ojodu caved in and rescue workers thronged the area to help in the rescue.
A witness, who craved anonymity, said he was in an adjoining building when the building collapsed, saying that “I heard a large bang and the next thing we saw was that the building undergoing construction just collapsed.
“Immediately after, we saw a little boy crying, who told us that the construction workers numbering about seven sent him to buy water for them only for him to return and met the building in which they were working has collapsed.”
General Manager, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, LASEMA, Dr. Femi Oke-Osanyintolu told PM NEWS that one dead body had been removed from the debris, while four others who sustained injuries had been rescued as at the time of filing this report.
Osanyintolu said evacuation of the victims from the collapsed building was swift as LASEMA officials made use of sophisticated equipments to detect people trapped beneath the debris.
He stated that rescue operation was still on to rescue others that might be trapped in the collapsed building, saying that other rescue agencies were on ground to ensure that a perfect work was done.
It was alleged that approval for the building was illegally granted by the Federal Ministry of Housing.

Recuers at the scene of the collapsed church in Ojodu, Lagos. Photo: Joseph Oluwasanmi

The sign post to the church

Lucky escape: a boy sent on errand before the collapse burst into tears. Photo: Joseph Oluwasanmi

The collapsed building served as the zonal headquarters of the Four Square Gospel Church.
It was located on Omotola Rafiu Zonal Headquarters, Ojodu, in the suburb of Lagos.
Sources told P.M.NEWS at the scene of the incident at 9, Bashiru Street, Ojodu, that the collapsed building was a bungalow before it was converted into a three-storey building.