Tragedy struck when two siblings were recovered dead from the rubble after the fence of an adjacent building, a hotel, collapsed on their bungalow during the heavy Saturday’s downpour at Ishawo, Ikorodu area of Lagos State.
Although first responders battled to save the lives of the two boys, identified as Gbolahan, 7 and Yinka, 9, the siblings were dead.
Sympathisers sobbed and wailed as the bodies of the victims were removed from the rubble by men of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency LASEMA, and Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service.
The tragic incident happened at number 25 Alao Street, Olainukan, Ishawo, Ikorodu area of the state when the fence of the hotel fell on their home.
The hotel is located at 38 Community Road, opposite Iyewa Road, Olainukan Bus Stop, inward Ishawo, Ikorodu.
Their parents could not be reached as at the time of filing this report, while the immediate or remote cause of the incident could not be ascertained as well.
Permanent Secretary, LASEMA, Dr. Femi Oke-Osanyitolu, confirmed the death of the two siblings.
According to Oke-Osanyitolu, “Upon arrival at the incident scene, a single-storey building (hotel fence) at 38 Community Road was found to have collapsed on a three bedroom flat (bungalow) at 25 Alao Street behind the hotel.
“Further investigation revealed that the said building fence was weakened by poor drainage resulting in its collapse on the house at 25 Alao Street.
“Two young boys, aged seven and nine years, named Gbolahan and Yinka Atolagbe, lost their lives. They have since been buried according to Muslim rites.”
Also, commenting on the incident, the South-West Coordinator, National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, Mr Ibrahim Farinloye, who described the incident as unfortunate, lamented that the distress call was not properly channelled to those whose responsibility was to save lives at the right time.
Meanwhile, the agency’s Lagos Response Team, LRT, Lagos State Fire Service, Lagos Neighborhood Safety Corps, LNSC, and the community excutive were the responders at the incident scene.
The building was immediately cordoned off by the agency’s LRT to avoid secondary incident and handed over to Lagos State Building Control Agency, LABCA.
