Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu says 19 families have submitted names of individuals suspected trapped in the collapsed Ikoyi building.

“As I speak here, it is only 19 names of missing persons that have been registered. Some of them have pictures, others do not. This list would help us to get information on the manifest of those at the site,” explained Mr Sanwo-Olu said. ”As of this afternoon, we have recovered a total of 32 bodies. We are conducting a coroner’s inquest on the bodies, and by tomorrow (Friday), we hope the exercise would have been concluded. That is the deadline we gave to the coroner so that the families can come and identify the bodies recovered so far.”

Mr Sanwo-Olu said this while updating journalists at the site of the collapsed Ikoyi building, adding that a register had been opened.

The governor was at the site for the third time within 72 hours to see how the search and recovery operation was being conducted and boost the emergency responders’ morale. He was in the company of Deputy Governor Obafemi Hamzat at the site for over three hours.

Mr Sanwo-Olu said the ongoing coroner inquest on the bodies evacuated from the site was expected to be concluded by Friday, after which families would be invited to identify them.

He further stated that the actual number of persons trapped in the collapsed 21-storey building remained unclear as of Thursday afternoon, but 32 fatalities have been recorded as of then.

The governor expressed satisfaction with the rescue operation, commending the first responders for their efforts.

He also met with some of the distressed family members at the site, cheering them and raising their hopes, while the rescue efforts progressed, noting that “yesterday (Wednesday), we opened a register for people that have missing persons or loved ones whom they believed must have been at the site before the collapse.”

Earlier on Thursday, the governor visited Lagos Island General Hospital, where survivors of the building collapse were rushed.

He explained that one of the nine people rescued had been moved to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) in Ikeja for advanced medical examination. He, however, stated that the survivor was not in a life-threatening situation.

Three survivors were discharged on Tuesday.

Mr Sanwo-Olu further stated that he had ordered a structural integrity test on the two high-rises on the premises where the 21-storey collapsed to safeguard the lives of emergency workers on the rescue operation.

(NAN)