Lagos Building Collapse: Sanwo-Olu Says Rescuing More Survivors Now Extremely Tough

– Death toll hits 42; missing:49 •Governor names six more survivors

(LASEMA), Dr. Femi Oke-Osanyintolu; APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu; Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule and Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu during a visit to the site of the Ikoyi building collapse yesterday.

It is unlikely that any one still  trapped in the Ikoyi,Lagos collapsed building can be brought out alive a week  after,Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu said late Friday.

The governor,on a fresh inspection of the site told Channels Television that the chances of rescuing more victims alive at the scene was  extremely tough.

Sanwo-Olu was back at the site again yesterday with the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC),Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State.

He put the death toll at 42,those registered as missing at 49 and survivors at 15.

He named them as  38-year-old Glory Samsom, Ndajor Ahmed, Yunusa Abubakar, Ajiboye Habib, Jeremiah Samson, and one man identified as Emem.

He said: “There are additional six people that we’ve also been able to identify and who were on site when the building collapsed. They were taken to the Police Hospital in Falomo for treatment and some of them have been discharged.

“We have taken the full records of survivors in the incident. And this gives a total of 15 people rescued alive. We have a total of 42 bodies that have been recovered.

Sanwo-Olu said 49 families had filled the missing persons’ register as at Saturday morning. He said the register had helped the State Government to reconcile the details of victims rescued alive and also medically account for bodies recovered.”

The Governor said identification of bodies by relatives had commenced, adding that DNA examination was being undertaken on some of the bodies that are difficult to be identified by their families.

“There is a sum of money that has been reserved by the State Government for succour and to give  befitting burial for those who died in the incident. “Families that so wish to accept it are being supported for the burial arrangement.

“Also, survivors in hospitals have been given the financial support to help them settle and cope with challenges of feeding in the aftermath of the incident.

The emergency management officials,he said,had  started the process of clearing the rubble to create more space in a tight compound.

He said  the work at the collapse building site had reached a stage  where using earth-moving equipment was  becoming very difficult.

Earlier on Friday,the state governmente government asked  families of the deceased to go to the Infectious Disease Hospital (IDH) Yaba to identify the corpses of the victims.

Information and Strategy Commissioner  Gbenga Omotoso said work was still ongoing and would continue until the government could account for everybody inside the building at time of collapse and certify that nobody is left behind in the collapsed building.

He said: “For bodies that may be very difficult to identify, we are going to be conducting DNA tests for such bodies to be identified. There are rules for giving bodies to people.

“There are some of the bodies that are in a state that it would be unprofessional for the hospitals to allow people to look at them in that present state and for them to be released the way they are. That is why we have the little delay that we are having. But if you go to IDH, Yaba from 4pm, you should be able to see some of the bodies and be able to identify who you want to identify.”

The multi-sectoral search and rescue operation is being led by teams of 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).