The bodies of a policewoman and two children were brought out from under the rubble of a collapsed three-story building on Freeman street, Lagos Island.
The house was said to have collapsed around 3:00 am on Saturday, trapping about ten persons under it.
It was learned that the body of the deceased policewoman was found trapped close to the entrance of the house. Rescuers said that from the look of things, the policewoman was trying to run out of the house when she noticed that the house was coming down.
The bodies of the other two were brought from the second floor of the collapsed house. Rescuers said a fourth person was rescued alive but in a critical condition.
The deceased and the injured were rushed to the Lagos Island hospital. Rescuers from the police, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Lagos State Emergency Management Agency ( LASEMA) were on ground to salvage the situation.
The Area Commander, Area A, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Bode Ojajuni, was also on ground to provide security and to facilitate the evacuation of the injured and deceased persons. LASEMA Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dr Olufemi Damilola Oke-Osanyintolu, said that the agency responded to an emergency call on the incident.
He said upon arrival at the incident scene at 4.05 am, the team discovered that a three-story building had totally collapsed on people asleep inside. He said a total of nine victims were extricated from the rubble alive while, three bodies were recovered dead.
“Their remains were transported to the mortuary by while pre-hospital care has been administered to the nine victims by LASEMA And LASAMBUS. “LASEMA, LABSCA, Ministry Of Physical planning, Nigeria Police, LNSC, LASG FIRE are also at the incident scene. Search and Rescue Operation ongoing,” he added.