On 8 March 2016, a five-story building collapsed while under construction in
Lekki District,
Lagos, Nigeria
Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national capital of Nigeria until December 1991 fo ...
. At least 34 people were killed.
Thirteen other people were pulled from the collapsed building alive in a
rescue operation
Rescue comprises responsive operations that usually involve the saving of life, or the urgent treatment of injuries after an accident or a dangerous situation.
Tools used might include search and rescue dogs, mounted search and rescue ho ...
that ended late on 10 March.
Investigation
Ibrahim Farinloye, from the National
Emergency Management
Emergency management or disaster management is the managerial function charged with creating the framework within which communities reduce vulnerability to hazards and cope with disasters. Emergency management, despite its name, does not actuall ...
Agency of Nigeria, said in a statement that "Investigation on the cause of the collapse has started by various federal and state agencies". The
Lagos state government Lagos State Government is the government of Lagos State, concerned with the administration of the state ministries.
The government consists of the executive, legislative and Judiciary.
The government is headed by the Governor who is the policy-maker ...
said in a statement that preliminary reports suggest the
building construction was illegal, with the builders having been served a
contravention notice for exceeding the number of allowed floors.
The owners of the building apparently “
criminally
In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Can ...
unsealed the property and continued building beyond the approved floors.”
Heavy rain had occurred in the area as well, with some pointing to that as an exacerbating factor.
Victor Suru, a
bricklayer
A bricklayer, which is related to but different from a mason, is a craftsman and tradesman who lays bricks to construct brickwork. The terms also refer to personnel who use blocks to construct blockwork walls and other forms of masonry. ...
working on the building, stated that "After they (the owners) finished building the house, rain fell and the house shifted a bit. They put iron in front of the house, (but) the iron couldn't hold the house. They left it like that and continued building."
See also
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2006 Lagos building collapses
*
2019 Lagos school collapse
*
2021 Lagos high-rise collapse
On 1 November 2021, a high-rise block of luxury flats under construction in the neighbourhood of Ikoyi in Lagos, Nigeria, collapsed. At least 42 people died. A rescue effort is ongoing, and the government of Lagos State is conducting an investi ...
References
Building and structure collapses in 2016
2016 in Nigeria
21st century in Lagos
March 2016 events in Nigeria
Building and structure collapses in Nigeria
2010s in Lagos State
2016 disasters in Nigeria
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