Ayodele Olalere
Contrary to widespread belief that the Lagos State Government approval for only 15-storey instead of 21-storey collapsed Ikoyi building, the deputy governor of the state, Dr. Obafemi Kadiri Hamzat, on Tuesday, said the state government did actually give approval for the 21-storey.
Hamzat cleared the air on the approved storyes for the fallen building when he visited the site of the collapsed structure, on Tuesday.
He dispelled the rumour that the initial approval for the building was 15-storey, noting that what the government approved was actually 21.
While briefing journalists on update of the rescue operation around 12:00pm, Hamzat further confirmed that two out of the nine survivors have been discharged.
Hamzat stated that the state government was hopeful that more people would be found alive, and urged onlookers to allow responders do their work effectively.
As rescue and search efforts at the venue of collapsed building at Gerard Road, Ikoyi entered day two, the number of persons rescued alive have increased to nine while, 10 dead bodies have been evacuated so far.
According to him, the construction site had earlier been sealed in July till November, to allow for structural adjustment by the developer, stating that there are Procedures to be followed in demolishing a property for non-compliance
The deputy governor also visited the Lagos Island General Hospital to check on the survivors.
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To forestall future occurrence of such incident, Deputy Governor Hamzat assured that the state government would not relent on its efforts at ensuring that buildings under construction in the state were subjected to Structural Integrity Tests to prevent issues of collapsed buildings in the state.
He said the concern of the government is to ensure ongoing search and rescue operation at the site yielded positive result so that those still trapped in the rubble could be rescued.
