The tragedy happened in the early hours of Thursday, July 3, 2025, when a three-story structure unexpectedly fell on Asesi Lane, near Adeniji Adele Road, Lagos Island, leaving numerous people wounded and sparking fear among locals.
According to Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotoso, four persons have been rescued alive from the wreckage and brought to local hospitals for urgent medical attention. The precise number of victims is still to be established while search and rescue activities continue at the site.
Emergency response teams swiftly arrived at the site, including personnel from the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Lagos State Ambulance Service (LASAMBUS), Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, Lagos Neighbourhood Safety Corps (LNSC), Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), and the Nigerian Police Force. These authorities have roped off the area to guarantee safety and handle crowd control while rescue attempts are continuing.
The fall happened without notice, generating great panic in the highly populated neighborhood. Traffic management authorities have devised temporary diversions to assist travel around the impacted zone, sending cars from Zenith Bank via Oba’s Palace to Enu Owa and other roads.
The reason for the collapse remains uncertain. However, structural breakdowns and the elderly condition of many structures in Lagos Island are recurring worries. Lagos has been battling with repeated building collapses, with experts and regulatory authorities warning about the urgent need for better enforcement of construction rules and improved maintenance methods.
This event adds to a troubling trend in Lagos, where building collapses have grown increasingly regular. In 2024 alone, Lagos saw an average of one building fall every two weeks. Over the previous 13 years, at least 90 structures have fallen in the state, resulting in more than 350 fatalities, according to the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN).
Recent months have witnessed several such catastrophes around Lagos. For instance, in May 2025, a building under construction collapsed in Ikorodu, killing one person. Another collapse happened in Mushin, and in April, a three-story structure fell in Ojodu-Berger, resulting in seven fatalities and multiple rescues. In March, a similar occurrence in Lekki resulted in two deaths.
The Lagos government and emergency authorities continue to examine the latest collapse to establish the exact reason and to avoid future disasters. Meanwhile, rescue workers continue at the scene, working feverishly to discover any further trapped victims and offer treatment to the wounded.
Residents and stakeholders are pushing for immediate improvements in construction standards, inspection protocols, and enforcement to stem the mounting toll of building collapses in Lagos, which has gained a terrible reputation as Nigeria's "building-collapse capital".
Authorities have encouraged the people to be calm and avoid the area to enable rescue efforts and maintain safety.
Post a Comment