By EKEOMA OGWO and MOSES OMOROGIEVA

National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) says no fewer than 15 bodies and nine injured people had been brought out of the rubbles of the collapsed 21-storey building in Ikoyi, Lagos.

NEMA Spokesperson, Mr Ibrahim Farinloye, disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at the site of the building under construction which collapsed at Gerrage road, Ikoyi, Lagos on Monday.

“So far, 15 dead bodies and nine injured persons have been dug out of the rubbles.

“When the Deputy Governor of Lagos, Dr Obafemi Hamzat, was here, we recovered10 bodies, while five more had been discovered as the operation continued,” Farinloye said.

He, however, pleaded with those whose family members were still trapped in the rubbles to calm down, as the agency would soon get to the last floor.

The NEMA spokesperson, while stating that the rescue team worked throughout the night, empathised with them and called for their understanding.

General Manager, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Dr Femi Oke-Osanyintolu, told NAN that officials of the agency also worked all night with flood light to recover bodies and rescue people.

”Eight cranes are in operations to ensure that people, who are alive and those already dead under the rubbles, are brought out,” Oke-Osanyintolu.

He said that they were expecting backup cranes to complete the operation on time.

Meanwhile, the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba, who visited the scene, has sympathised with the victims’ families, describing the incident as unfortunate.

Baba stressed the need for strengthening regulatory agencies in charge of high-rise buildings, adding that strict supervision by other relevant agencies would prevent such incidents in future.

He said that those in charge of the construction that compromised the required standard should be made to face the wrath of the law.

NAN gathered from a reliable source that the buildings under construction, known as 360 degree, being constructed by Four Score Homes, belong to a prominent political figure.

Meanwhile, a female youth corps member, who is one of those trapped in the rubbles, is said to be called her family members for rescue.

However, after serious protest, 10 young men, who claimed to be relations of the victims, were later selected to join the rescue team. (NAN)

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