Lagos building collapse: One of my daughters still missing, parent cries out

As emergency officials concluded rescue operations Thursday on the site of a three storey building that collapsed killing many pupils of Ohen Nursery Primary School and other occupants on Lagos Island, one of the parents, Mr Muyideen Akinshina, disclosed that one of his three daughters, Mujidat, is still missing, 24 hours after the collapse.

Akinshina, whose three children are pupils of Ohen nursery and Primary school, disclosed further that to aggravate the agony, he had since buried one, Aliyah, who did not survive after the collapse, lamenting that he was now left with his last child, Abdullahi, a two-year-old, who was still being attended to at the hospital ward.

“Of my three children, I lost one, Aliyah, one is still missing, Mujidat, while Abdullahi, who is two-year-old, is still been attended to at the ward,” he said sadly.

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Meanwhile, following the appeal by the Lagos State government for voluntary blood donors to cater for the injured victims, scores of residents on Thursday thronged the hospital premises for the exercise.

Executive Secretary, Lagos State Blood Transfusion Committee, Dr Modupe Olaiya, while speaking on the development, said that hundreds of residents had voluntarily donated blood to treat the victim, adding that more centres, aside from the General Hospital, had been opened to assist in the collection of blood for patients.

According to her, the locations will also operate at weekends, urging residents to often visit the hospital and donate blood for patients.

She said doing this would reduce the agony that victims of emergency often encountered.

As more Lagosians commiserate with families of the victims, Lagos State Governor-elect, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, also paid a visit the site of the collapsed three-storey building at Ita-Faji on Lagos Island on Thursday where over 12 people, including children, were reported dead.

He also visited some of the school children who survived the collapse in the hospital to sympathise with them.

Sanwo-Olu was accompanied on his visit by the deputy governor-elect, Dr Kadri Hamzat.

Sanwo-Olu, while commiserating with those who lost their lives, said that government and others were doing all they could to resolve issues arising from the collapse.

He said as a father, his thoughts and prayers were with the parents and members of the community, adding that beyond this, there was a need to put measures in place to ensure that such occurrence was avoided in the future.

The governor-elect assured he would be committed to ensuring such occurrence were avoided in the future when he took over the realm of affairs.

“I visited the site of the collapsed building at Ita-faji and the general hospital where those affected are receiving treatment. The community, rescue workers, health personnel and the state government are doing all they can to aid and resolve all issues arising.

“As a father, my thoughts and prayers are with the parents and members of the community, but beyond this, we need to put factors in place to ensure that we avoid such occurrences and I will be committed to doing this,” he said.