Residents Blame Telecom Mast For Lagos Building Collapse
Lagos State Government and residents have blamed the collapse of a four storey building that occurred in Lagos on Tuesday, killing no fewer than eight people on erection of MTN mast.
The four-storey building had collapsed at Massey Street on Lagos Island on Tuesday around 2:30pm with many people trapped in the building.
As at Tuesday evening, two dead bodies were evacuated from the building while 14 others were rescued alive.
But on Wednesday, six more dead bodies were recovered, making it eight people who have died so far.
As of the time of filling this report, officials of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, LASEMA and other emergency responders were still on site trying to see if more people were still trapped
Commenting on the development, the Lagos State Building Control Agency(LASBCA) General Manager ,Engr. Olalekan Shodeinde appealed to building owners and developers from adding other floors or structures to old and existing buildings without carrying out a thorough engineering appraisal and integrity test on the structure.
Shodeinde said the building a four floors structure which was built with bricks collapsed due to foundation failure when the bearing capacity of the soil could not sustain the structure due to the load being transferred from the additional imposed load of communication mast erected on the building about two weeks ago .
According to him, the foundation gave way and the building collapsed, adding that the building after several inspection rounds in the past did not show any sign of distress even though the structural member were constructed with gravel as granite.
“ The additional load imposed on the structure added to the design capacity and loading being transferred through the structural members made the building heavier than the capacity of the soil which is the ultimate load bearer,” he said.
He said that the present administration of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode is aimed at achieving zero tolerance to incidences of collapsed buildings, appealing to Lagosians to stop adding additional load to old existing buildings which he said is suicidal.
According to residents, a young man identified as Lateef, said to be son of one of the owners who had fought against the erection of the MTN Mast was also brought out dead.
According to source, “Lateef (the deceased) had fought against the erection of the Mast by MTN engineers two weeks ago, complaining that the steel are too heavy for the building, but the developer’s lawyer who made the deal on behalf of his client got Lateef arrested by the Police and detained him for five days for allegedly obstructing MTN engineers, before he was granted bail. He was still on sick bed in his room when the incident occurred and killed him”.
