Death toll in a high-rise collapse in Ikoyi, Lagos State has risen to 43, the state government has announced.
Lagos Commissioner for Information, Gbenga Omotoso, made this known in a statement on Sunday.
The 21-storey building which was being developed by Fourscore Homes in the upscale Ikoyi district crumbled on Monday afternoon, trapping dozens of people working on the site.
Femi Osibona, owner of Fourscore Homes, is one of the 43 persons who have been confirmed to have died in the collapse.
Osibona’s body was recovered from the rubble on Thursday.
The total number of people on site is unknown but Sanwo-Olu said 49 families had so far filed a missing persons report and that “DNA examination was being undertaken on some of the bodies difficult to be identified.”
As at Friday, the authorities had said that nine people had survived – some were rescued alive, others on the ground floor managed to escape unharmed.
Over the weekend, the number of survivors increased to 15 after six additional people who escaped the collapse were identified.
The statement read;
One more body has been recovered from the site of the collapsed 21-storey building in Ikoyi, Lagos. The body, which was recovered on Saturday, has brought the number of bodies retrieved from the rubble to 43. There are 15 survivors and 49 persons have reported that their loved ones are missing.
It added;
At the Infectious Disease Hospital, Yaba, the identification of bodies continues. Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, once again, commiserates with the families of those who died in the incident.
Meanwhile, there is still no official figure of how many people were in the building at the time of the collapse.
