People buried under collapsed luxury high-rise in Nigeria call for help
Nine more survivors have so far been pulled from the wreckage, according to Lagos State’s Deputy Governor Obafemi Hamzat.
On Tuesday morning, voices could be heard calling for help beneath mounds of rubble and twisted metal. Emergency teams are now racing to rescue an unknown number of people still trapped under what was supposed to be a “7-star hotel experience,” according to brochures from the building’s developers Fourscore Homes.
The incident has raised concerns over construction practices and regulatory controls in Nigeria, where a number of buildings have collapsed in recent years.
It has also brought fresh heartache for the dozens of onlookers who gathered at the devastated site Tuesday. Among them, distraught relatives who were anxiously awaiting news of their loved ones.
One of these onlookers, Farati Bakare, was awaiting news of his uncle who he said had visited the site yesterday.
But as the hours slip by, their hopes of good news are also fading.
Ibrahim Farinloye, of the national agency coordinating the rescue operations, told reporters gathered at scene Tuesday that he had spoken to people trapped inside the building and remains hopeful more will be brought out alive.
“We heard voices coming in and out,” Farinloye said. “After communicating with them we swung into action. Two excavators were deployed to the area.”
Anger and confusion
One bricklayer, who gave his name as Dragon, said he had gone on an errand when he saw the building collapse. He described seeing a dead body pulled from the rubble, and people covered in dust in the aftermath.
Dragon said he knew of at least seven other bricklayers who were still missing in the disaster.
Another missing person is 26-year-old Zainab Oyindamola Sanni, who is carrying out her mandatory national youth service with FourScore, the developers of the building, her family told CNN.
The young woman’s brother, Fawaz Sanni, said she was among those spoken to by rescue workers and had responded. “They told me she is still alive,” he said.
Locals criticized the slow response from emergency services in the aftermath of the collapse on Monday, with one witness telling CNN “we’ve waited four or five hours now!”
Another man yelled: “People are dying!”
In desperation, a number of people resorted to digging people out with their bare hands, pulling three people from the rubble before emergency services arrived on Monday.
The Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) said it activated its emergency response plan, sending excavation equipment to the scene.
The Nigerian Red Cross also on site assisting authorities.
Questions over collapse
The building, located on Gerald Road in the city’s affluent Ikoyi neighborhood, is a construction site for luxury apartments. It had been under for construction for two years.
A brochure for the building features an artist impression of sleek white buildings with roof-top swimming pools and penthouses going for $5 million.
Deputy Governor Hamzat said the building, known as the “360 Degrees…
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