Synagogue: Woman walks out of rubble alive •As investigation commences

A 45-year-old-woman, on Tuesday, walked out alive from the rubbles of the collapsed building at the Synagogue Church of All Nations in Ikotun, Lagos, a rescue worker has said.

The building collapsed on Friday.

Mr Ibrahim Farinloye, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), South-West Zone, told journalists in Lagos, that the woman walked out on her own at 2.00 a.m.

Farinloye did not give the identity of the woman.

He said that the death toll from the building collapse had increased to 59.

As at Monday, the death toll was 49.

Farinloye said that 131 persons had been rescued alive.

“A woman of about 45 years old, walked out of the rubbles on her own around 2.00 a.m. today, while 10 more bodies were recovered, leaving 59 dead and 131 rescued alive,” Farinloye said.

He said that the rescue workers were likely to recover more bodies.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reported that the emergency responders at the scene of the collapsed building, on Tuesday, deployed three police sniffer dogs to h

elp to locate trapped victims.

The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr Kayode Aderanti, had on Monday, approved the use of the sniffer dogs for the rescue operation.

Vehicles conveying the dogs to the scene reportedly broke down on its way.

Farinloye said that the rescue exercise might be concluded soon.

NAN reported that the police and other security agencies are still on ground to ensure safety of lives and property.

The collapsed six-storey building, said to be a guest house for worshippers at the church collapsed at about 1.00 p.m.

The Pastor of the church, Mr Temitope Joshua, attributed the collapse to a ‘mystery’ aircraft, which he said, hovered around the building for about 30 minutes before the collapse. 

Meanwhile, investigation has commenced into the tragedy at the Synagogue Church of All Nations, where the collapse of its guest-house had recorded the death of over 60 people.

The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), on Tuesday, disclosed that it was conducting the probe to determine the causes of the collapse.

There are reports of alleged non-compliance with construction safety provisions and alteration of original building plan.

The allegation came from the NEMA, which is involved in rescue operations at the crash site.

SON’s head of inspectorate and compliance, Bede Obaye, made the disclosure when he visited the site alongside his team.

They came for samples of some of the materials used for the construction. According to him, the investigations would be comprehensive, in order to get to the root of the tragedy.

“We have come here to see exactly what happened, we have watched the clip of what happened, but beyond that, we are here to investigate the remote causes of the collapse, to look at the materials and to ask questions about the engineers and contractors that handled the project.