Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State has given an update on the number of casualties and survivors of the recent collapsed building at Ikoyi. On Saturday evening, Governor Sanwo-Olu giving an update on the Ikoyi building collapse said, the number of survivors is now 15; the dead 42.
Meanwhile, National Leader of All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Nasarawa State governor, Alhaji Abdullahi Sule, on Saturday, visited the site of the collapsed 21-storey building on Gerrard Road in Ikoyi, Lagos.
Sanwo-Olu, who has been on a regular visit to the site since the incident occurred on Monday, and was also there together with the duo, disclosed that the number of people rescued from the collapsed building had increased to 15.
This was just as search and rescue operation continued at the site, with the heap of the rubbles found to have receded sharply.
Sanwo-Olu, while giving an update on the search and rescue operation at the scene, said additional six people were evacuated alive from the collapsed structure and were currently being treated at the Police Hospital in Falomo, Ikoyi.
The governor also disclosed that 42 bodies had been recovered from the site as of 6pm on Saturday, giving a clearer manifest of the number of people that were possibly at the construction site before the building caved in on Monday.
“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,” Governor Sanwo-Olu stated.
Among the latest survivors is a 38-year-old woman, Glory Samsom, while others are: Ndajor Ahmed, Yunusa Abubaka, Ajiboye Habib, Jeremiah Samson, and one man identified as Emem. Samson, 20, is said to be in a coma.
Governor Sanwo-Olu said 49 families had filled the missing persons’ register as of Saturday morning, noting that the register had helped the state government to reconcile the details of victims rescued alive and also medically account for bodies recovered.
He said identification of bodies by relatives had commenced, adding that DNA examination was being undertaken on some of the bodies 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 for 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 governor said.