A six-year-old boy was pulled out of the collapsed building at Idumota area of Lagos State alive more than 24 hours after the accident.

The boy, whose identity could not be immediately ascertained, was pulled out of the rubble with just a few bruises on his body.

A source at the scene, however, said that the parents of the boy were among those who died when the building collapsed.

As at Thursday morning, the number of casualties had risen to 18 as more bodies were pulled out of the rubble by volunteers.

Meanwhile, mixed reactions have continued to trail the incident, which happened at about 11.30 pm on Tuesday.

Residents are pointing accusing fingers at the Lagos State Building Control Agency for its failure to bring owners and developers of collapsed buildings to book.

They also blamed accommodation seekers for occupying such houses after they had been marked for demolition.

Dare Oluwalogbon, a civil servant, blamed political leaders for using their positions to stop the demolition of marked buildings. “It is shocking to know that immediately such houses are marked for demolition, the owners quickly run to their relatives in power and the rest is history,” he said.

Shina Obafemi, a plumber, said the failure of the government to have a clear cut policy on building collapse, in spite of its frequent recurrence, was a major contributor. “Government on its part has never come out with a decisive policy for punishing offenders, in spite of casualties each time the incident occurred,” he said.

He urged the authority to formulate the right laws and policies, through the executive and the state houses of assembly to punish offenders.

Hajia Ibrahim Obashola, a woman leader, described the menace of building collapse as deadlier than any celebrated disease such as HIV/AIDS, and warned accommodation seekers to exercise restraint in choosing the type of accommodation they rent.

“I think the number of death as a result of building collapse is becoming alarming and accommodation seekers should be wary of the type of house they occupy,” she said. “This, I think, will put such building owners or developers to task by doing the right thing,” she said. ​

http://dailytimes.com.ng/article/boy-rescued-collapsed-building-24-hours-after