A middle-age man escaped death by whiskers as two buildings collapsed at 47/49 Oduntan Street, Kosofe, Ketu, Lagos.
The victim who fell from topmost floor was rescued and taken to hospital for treatment.
The incident involved a two-storey building and a four-storey building situated beside each other.
It was gathered that over 500 occupants were in the buildings formally used as a school when they partially collapsed as a result of heavy rain on Saturday.
Rescuers attributed the collapse of the buildings to ageing and poor maintenance on the part of the owner.
It was also learnt that the residents of the building were asked to vacate the building under the supervision of the combined team of Lagos State Emergency Management Agency Rapid Response Squad, Lagos State Building Control Agency, and Lagos State Neighbourhood Safety Corps to avert further secondary incident.
Reports revealed that the last building will be pulled down as it has failed structural integrity test, hence posing a threat to the public and adjoining buildings.
While confirming the incident, General Manager of LASBCA, Gbolahan Oki, said the agency will move in swiftly to remove all distressed structures within the Agboye Compound, Ketu.
He disclosed that LASBCA had taken a proactive action of serving quit notice before parts of the building caved in during the rains of Saturday; and also evacuated over 500 residents to save them from the imminent collapse.
Oki said despite several notices served by the Agency, some of the residents refused to vacate the buildings, which were showing different signs of distress.
He further said that the structural integrity of about eight buildings within the compound could not be guaranteed as several parts of the buildings had started giving way.
LASBCA General Manager said the buildings must be pulled down to prevent casualties and protect the built environment, while admoshing that more stringent measures await those ignoring notices, and directives of the agency.
