Over 30 lifeless bodies have been pulled out of the rubbles of the collapsed 21-storey building on Gerrard Road, Ikoyi, Lagos State.
Lagos State acting coordinator of the National Emergency Management Agency, Ibrahim Farinloye gave the figure to our correspondent yesterday.
Farinloye said the figure increased late Wednesday after search and rescue officials found more bodies.
He said the rescue operation has been intensified to evacuate more bodies from the site.
According to the Lagos NEMA coordinator, over five bags were recovered from underneath the collapsed building yesterday.
He revealed that the bags which belongs to victims of the collapse have been searched by rescue officials to properly identify their owners.
Meanwhile, as the death toll from the scene of the collapsed 21 storey building continues to rise, the Nigerian Red Cross Society has urged the Lagos State government to provide rescue officials on the site with protective gears.
Chairperson of the Red Cross Society in Lagos, Adebola Kolawole said the call is due to the continued recovery of more decomposing corpses on the site.
Kolawole said the exposure poses a health hazard to the rescue officials and the members of the public they come in contact with.
He further urged the State Government to begin fumigation of the collapsed building to safeguard the health of residents who live around the area. “Government should try and fumigate the entire area because of the decomposing bodies.
“The persons living close-by are at great risk due to the pollution and we face a disease outbreak if nothing is done urgently,” he said.
Meanwhile, over twenty families have approached the help desk set up by the Lagos state government to profile victims of the building collapse.
Assistant Director at Lagos State Emergency Ambulance Service, Makinde Beatrice said the help desk is also providing counselling for grief-stricken family members of the victims.
