Nine persons have been rescued from a sinking building in the Maryland area of Lagos on Monday, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said.
The Lagos Territorial Coordinator of the agency Ibrahim Farinloye confirmed the development in a statement.
He said, “NEMA received a distressed alert on a sinking storey building where nine people are said to be trapped. The building is located at 47 Akinwunmi street, Akinwunmi North, Estate Mende, Maryland, Ikeja.”
“All nine trapped ladies have been successfully rescued,” he added.
The NEMA official quoted one of the rescued persons identified as Ms Blessing to have said the affected are mostly ladies.
Farinloye explained that “the landlord of the building had used a ladder to escape but NEMA questioned him for failure to contact emergency responders instead of one of the trapped victim’s office contacting the agency”.
He said: “The landlord just returned to the scene and he has been handed over to the Police for leaving the vulnerable ladies. About 35 buildings on Akinwumi Estate, 31 buildings on Arowojobe Estate, and Ebun Otti Estate are seriously impacted”.
Other agencies who were on the ground include the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA); the State Fire Service, and Police Disaster Management Unit.
The early morning rainfall, which lasted about four hours, caused floods in many Lagos communities.
