Ikoyi Building Collapse: Nine Rescued As Death Toll Rises To 36

The Federal Government has given an update on the rescue operation going on at the scene of the 21-storey building collapse in Ikoyi, Lagos.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday morning, the Coordinator of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in the South-West Region, Ibrahim Farinloye, said the death toll has risen from 22 to 36.

Farinloye stated that three women and 33 men have been confirmed dead in the collapse, bringing the total death recorded so far to 36.

The NEMA official added that a female and eight males have also been rescued so far by responders, adding that rescue operation is still ongoing.

“Out of the survivors, we have one female and eight male. Out of the dead, we have three female and 33 male dead bodies

“Rescue work is still ongoing and more hands have joined the rescue team,” he said.

In other news, the Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, has assured Nigerians that the Lagos-Ibadan expressway and the Second Niger Bridge will be completed in 2022.

Fashola disclosed this on Wednesday in Abuja when he appeared before the House of Representatives Committee on Works to defend his ministry’s 2022 budget.

He said “The Lagos/Ibadan express road is scheduled for completion in 2022. At the moment, we have done cumulatively about 90 kilometres in sections one and two.

“For the second Niger Bridge, the plan is to complete it in 2022 and it is on schedule. The contractors tell us that the bridges will be fully connected by the end of quarter one in 2022.

“So, by the end of the first quarter, you can walk on it from the beginning to the end. We lost some time during the COVID but they are working to gain the time lost.”