(PHOTOS) Fashola Visits Site Of Collapsed Synagogue Church as Death Toll Hits 44
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Rescuers were still busy yesterday at the
Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN),
Ikotun on the outskirts of Lagos where a
building collapsed, killing 44 persons —as of
yesterday.
When the incident happened on Friday, 17
were said to have died.
Many are believed to be trapped underneath
the six-storey building.
The church has declined comments on the
number of persons in the building when it
collapsed. Besides, it insists that nobody died
in the incident.
Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola was at
the scene yesterday. He called for an inquiry.
Government officials have said there was no
approval for the Attention of additional floors.
Commissioner for Physical Planning Olutoyin
Ayinde, who was on Fashola's entourage, said
the church's engineers were yet to present
their permit to make such modifications.
Ayinde said: "Our meeting with the prophet
was a closed-door meeting but it surrounds the
collapsed building. It is a sad situation; lives
have been lost and many others have been
rescued.
"We use this opportunity to express our
sympathy to the affected people.
"We have no proof that the church had permit
to add to the existing structure. We have asked
the engineering team to meet us and for about
two hours now, no member of the team has
come.
"We also have questions for them. Even if the
building does not have approval, it ought to be
built professionally. We have asked for their
team and we hope in the course of the week,
they would get to us.
"It is necessary to take the final inventory
before we can say the number of people
affected. Right now, we do not know how many
people are involved. When a final inventory
has been taken, the ministry of special duties
will take a decision as regards relieve," he
added.
On whether the ýgovernment plans to seal the
premises, Ayinde said: "There are no plans for
that yet until investigation as to the cause of
the collapse has been concluded.
"I have said I have no proof of a permit. Maybe
they have one and are yet to show us. We will
give them the opportunity to defend
themselves and action can only be taken after
investigation has been concluded."
But the General Manager, Lagos State Building
Control Agency, Mrs. Abimbola Animashaun,
affirmed that the church had no approval.
She said: "We have investigated and found that
they had no approval for the additional
structures. Even the main church, which they
have added about three floors on, was sealed
two days ago, but it is now open.
"You cannot have an existing building and start
putting up more buildings on it. Before you can
do anything like that, you must confirm that
the structure is still stable and can stand
additional buildings."
The Nation gathered that the collapsed
building, which was a three-storey that had
another three added to it, had been vibrating
for sometime before it collapsed.
It was also gathered that over 200 people were
in the building, most of them having lunch at
the basement, while the construction workers
were on the sixth floor.
There were many foreigners, according to
sources.
Mattresses, clothes and other household items,
including air-conditionersý, were seen lying in
the rubble of the building. Besides, a foul
odour oozed out of the site.
Fumigants were being distributed to the
workers.
National Emergency Management Agency
(NEMA), Lagos State Emergency Management
Agency (LASEMA), Red Cross, medical
personnel from the state and federal
governments and Lagos State Building
Inspection Agency personnel were all at the
site as excavation continued.
The workers were on the sixth floor, cutting
the rods to create an opening to into other
floors.
The Nation gathered that all the 130 people
rescued alive and the 44 dead were removed
from the sixth floor and the basement, which
are the only areas the workers have been able
to access.
It was also observed that most of the pillars of
the collapsed building were still standing.
Confirming the death toll, NEMA's Southwest
spokesman, Ibrahim Farinloye, said the cause
of the collpase was still being investigated.
"We were able to work overnight and so, as at
now (6pm), we have 130 rescued alive and 44
dead. Nobody can say what caused the collapse.
But from the footage shown to me, where all
the foundation of the building was shaking
before it caved in, it could have been caused
by the additional structure.
"Investigations will confirm what really
happened. You can see that some of the beams
and blocks are still intact. So, some of the
permutations cannot be ruled out.
"We are working on worst case scenario that
the foundation might have been weakened,
which would have led to the collapse."
Source: http://thenationonlineng.net
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