Three additional occupants of the ill-fated three-storey building that collapsed in Ojodu Berger have been pronounced dead, increasing the death toll to five persons.
As gathered, the three dead occupants were among the 15 earlier rescued under the rubbles by the emergency response team including the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and their Lagos State counterpart, LASEMA.
The identities of the deceased victims were yet to be ascertained but a physical check on the recovered occupants of the building housing a popular restaurant, Equal right, revealed that three were females and two adult males.
The structure sited on 9 Oremeta Street, Ojodu was said to have a section already completed and leased for commercial purposes, part of which the restaurant rented for business purposes.
The Permanent Secretary, LASEMA, Dr. Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, who disclosed the statistics on Sunday, barely 16hours after the search and rescue operations commenced, said that the bodies have been handed over to the State Environmental Health Monitoring Unit (SEHMU).
Oke-Osanyintolu added that safety precautions have been activated with the entire area cordoned-off to ensure safe operation and prompt rescue of the victims.
To fast-track the operations, he noted that heavy duty equipments including excavator and payloaders have been deployed to the scene.
