At least 10 people were rescued alive on Thursday after a three-storey residential building collapsed near Alakija Bus Stop in the Satellite Town area of Lagos State.
The Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service confirmed the incident in a statement issued by its Director, Margaret Adeseye, who said emergency responders were immediately deployed to the scene following a distress call.
According to Adeseye, the agency received the emergency alert at about 11:37 a.m. and promptly mobilised personnel from the Ijegun-Egba Fire Station to the affected building located on Old Ojo Road, near Alakija Bus Stop along the Lagos-Badagry Expressway.
She disclosed that rescue teams arrived at the scene at approximately 11:49 a.m. and immediately commenced search-and-rescue operations.
The collapsed structure, a three-storey residential building occupied by several residents at the time of the incident, trapped an unspecified number of people beneath the rubble.
“Ten persons have been rescued alive with varying degrees of injuries and have been handed over to medical personnel for necessary treatment,” Adeseye said.
She noted that rescue operations were still ongoing as emergency workers continued searching through the debris to determine whether additional victims remained trapped.
According to the fire service director, a multi-agency emergency response team was actively involved in the rescue effort.
The agencies participating in the operation include the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, the Federal Fire Service, the Nigeria Police Force, the Nigerian Navy, the Lagos Neighbourhood Safety Corps and the Nigerian Red Cross Society.
Adeseye stated that the cause of the building collapse had not yet been determined, adding that investigations had commenced to establish the circumstances surrounding the incident.
She appealed to residents and motorists in the area to cooperate with emergency responders by keeping access routes clear to facilitate rescue activities.
The fire service boss assured the public that relevant authorities would continue to provide updates as search-and-rescue operations progress at the site.
The latest incident adds to growing concerns over recurring cases of building collapse in Lagos and other parts of the country, with authorities frequently attributing such incidents to structural defects, poor construction practices and non-compliance with approved building regulations.
At the time of filing this report, emergency workers remained at the scene combing through the rubble in search of possible survivors.
