Ikoyi building collapse: Sanwo-Olu declares 3-day mourning as death toll hits 32, developer confirmed dead

By Moses Adeniyi

Following the tragic building collapse mishap which greeted Gerrard Street, Ikoyi Lagos, on Monday, Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu has declared three days of mourning.

This is coming as no fewer than 32 persons are now recorded to have died in the incident.

According to the Governor, all flags are to be flown at half-mast in public and private buildings, while official engagements have been cancelled during the mourning period.

A statement by the State’s Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Gbenga Omotoso, read partly: “The Lagos State Government, once again, commiserates with all those who lost their loved ones in the unfortunate incident.”

This is just as Governor Sanwo-Olu has visited the site thrice to encourage the rescuers and console relations of those who are recorded to have been trapped in the 21-storey building.

He was on Thursday at the hospital to cheer up those injured before swearing in a six-man panel of Inquiry to find out why the building went down and recommend measures to prevent such incidents.

For the third time within 72 hours, Lagos  Governor  Sanwo-Olu was at the site of the Ikoyi building collapse to see how the search and recovery operation was being conducted, and also to boost the morale of the emergency responders on site.

Governor Sanwo-Olu who lauded the rescue operation, commending the first responders for their efforts, also met with some of the distressed family members at the site, cheering them to raise their hopes, while the rescue efforts progressed.

The actual number of persons trapped in the collapsed 21-storey building remains unclear as at Thursday afternoon, but 32 fatalities have been recorded, the Governor confirmed.

Sanwo-Olu, while giving an update to the press, disclosed that family members had submitted 19 names of those still missing, saying the ongoing coroner inquest on the bodies evacuated from the site was expected to be concluded by Friday (today) after which families would be invited to identify them.

He said, “Yesterday (Wednesday), we opened a register for people that have missing persons or loved ones whom they believed must have been at the site before the collapse. As I speak here, it is only 19 names of missing persons that have been registered. Some of them have pictures, others do not. This list would help us to get information on manifest of those at the site.

“As at this afternoon, we have recovered a total of 32 bodies. We are conducting a corona inquest on the bodies and by tomorrow (Friday), we hope the exercise would have been concluded. That is the deadline we gave to the corona, so that the families can come and identify the bodies recovered so far,” he said.

Earlier on Thursday, the Governor visited Lagos Island General Hospital where survivors of the building collapse are being given medical attention.

One of the nine people rescued alive, Governor Sanwo-Olu disclosed, has been moved to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) in Ikeja for advanced medical examination. Three survivors according to him were discharged two days ago.

The Governor who disclosed he had ordered structural integrity test on two high-rise structures in the premises where the 21-storey collapsed, said the action was necessary to safeguard the lives of emergency workers on the rescue operation.

The multi-sectoral search and rescue operation led by teams of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) and National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), with the support of construction giants, Julius Berger, Craneburg, HiTech and China Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC), were still ongoing as at the time of filing this report.

Meanwhile, a body believed to be that of popular Developer and owner of the building, Femi Osibona has reportedly been recovered on Thursday.

A combined team of emergency responders recovered the body which has been taken to a morgue.

According to report gathered, the lifeless body of Osibona, was recovered Thursday, after painstaking efforts from emergency responders.