The total number of people rescued alive in the building which collapsed in the Onike area of Lagos on Saturday is now five, while four dead bodies were recovered.

The Zonal Coordinator South-West, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Ibrahim Farinloye, confirmed the development to journalists in the early hours of Sunday.

Mr Farinloye said that further investigation from the incident showed that the collapsed building under construction was located within a compound and it was a frame structure as at the time of the incident.

He said that the third suspended slab concrete was already in place with an ongoing internal partition. “The building crumbled during a downpour at about 1:45 p.m. Saturday.

“The building was bequeathed to the family members and some of the family members awarded it to a developer who was converting the bungalow building into a three-storey building before it collapsed,” Mr Farinloye said.

The NEMA boss said that the Alayaki Lane, where the building is located, contains a cluster of buildings and the rescue operation is being hampered by the lack of space.

He, however, assured the people that the emergency responders were working hard to get to ground zero, and that for now no one had claimed that a relation was missing.

Apart from NEMA, other agencies participating in the operations include LASEMA, Federal and State Fire Services, NSCDC, the police and the Nigeria Red Cross.

(NAN)