Death toll from the SCOAN collapsed building rises to 49

Five more bodies have been
recovered from under the rubbles
of the six storey building that
collapsed on Friday within the
Synagogue Church of All Nations in Ikotun, a Lagos suburb.

This brings the total number of bodies so far recovered to 49. The latest bodies were recovered on Monday, as rescue efforts by men of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA ), Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA ), Rapid Respond Squad and Lagos State Fire Service intensified.

Confirming the figure of casualties, NEMA South West spokesperson, Ibrahim Farinloye, said the rescue efforts will continue today until they have certified that nobody, whether dead or alive, was trapped under the rubbles.

Mr Farinloye also said sniffer
dogs have been deployed to help
in identifying any location of
possible trapped bodies.

'We are deploying Nigeria Police
sniffer dogs to assist in locating
trapped victims as we are getting
close to areas suspected to have
more people trapped.'

'The Commissioner of Police has
ordered release of five dogs after
a collective decision to use dogs
by responding agencies and
NEMA asked the Police’ Disaster
Management Unit to facilitate to
manage the dogs immediately.'

'The dogs will assist in search and
rescue faster and help in early
conclusion of the operations,' he
said.

Another report said parents of a
three-year-old girl rescued from
the site of the collapsed building
were yet to be found up till
Monday.

The girl, who is currently receiving
treatment at the Lagos State
University Teaching Hospital
( LASUTH), Ikeja, was yet to be
claimed by her parents or any
guardian.

Consultant and Head of the
Surgical Emergency Department
of the hospital, Ibrahim
Mustapha, said though the girl
was fit to be discharged, she
cannot go home as her parents or
any guardian was yet to come and
claim her.

He noted that they were yet to
get basic information from the
little girl, which would have
helped social welfare workers at
the hospital to trace her parent’s
whereabouts.