Friday 23 March 2012

One killed, four injured as NITEL building collapses


Hello Friends!
This is some sad news courtesy of Punch Newspapers:

A labourer, Matthew Adesuyi, was crushed to death while four others sustained varying degrees of injuries after a building, being refurbished, collapsed on the premises of the Nigerian Telecommunications Limited on FIRRO Road, Cappa, Oshodi, Lagos.

PUNCH Metro learnt that the victims were labourers hired to work on the one-storey building.

One of the labourers, who identified himself simply as Sodiq, said the incident occurred around 8:30am on Thursday.

The collapsed building. Photo- Eniola Akinkuotu
He said, “We are over 70 labourers hired to refurbish the building. Most of my colleagues had gone out to have breakfast but I remained in the building, on the ground floor, when it trembled.

“I immediately beckoned to my colleagues who were on the first floor but the building quickly collapsed.
“One of them managed to jump off but sustained some injuries while the other lost four fingers of his right hand when the building collapsed.”

Sodiq said three others were trapped in the rubble but a team of rescuers were able to rescue two while one other person remained trapped for hours.

Our correspondent, who visited the scene, was barred from entering the compound as security guards acting under instruction, cordoned off onlookers.

An unidentified man escaped being lynched by rescuers after he attempted to take photographs.

A combined team of policemen attached to the Mushin Division, firefighters, officials of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps tried for hours to rescue the last victim.

But when Adesuyi was brought out of the rubble, he was dead.

One of the labourers, who spoke to our correspondent on the condition of anonymity, blamed the incident on the shoddy manner the repair was done.

“The building was a dilapidated structure and all we were told to do was to patch it up. The building ought to have been completely demolished and re-erected but when I brought up the suggestion, I was told to keep quiet,” he said.

The General Manager, LASEMA, Dr. Femi Osayintolu, told our correspondent that one person died but commended his men for their swift response.

The spokesperson for the state police command, Mr. Joseph Jaiyeoba, told our correspondent that that the contractor handling the project was at large.

He said, “At about 9:30am on Thursday, a storey building on NITEL Training School’s premises at Cappa, Oshodi, undergoing reconstruction by Bukola Concepts Nigeria Limited, Abuja, collapsed.

“Out of the two workers trapped beneath the rubble, one was rescued and admitted at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja, while the other, Matthew Adesuyi, died from injuries and his corpse has been deposited at Isolo General Hospital mortuary for autopsy.

“The contractor is at large but rescue efforts have been concluded and the case has been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department, Yaba, for further investigation.”

xoxo
Simply Cheska...

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