Background
According to Akinwunmi Ambode, the governor of Lagos State, the primary school and nursery had been operating illegally in a residential building. Ambode stated that many buildings in the area were certified "distressed" and had been marked for demolition, but that landlords resisted the efforts of the government to demolish the buildings, opting to refurbish them for further use. A resident of the area stated that the building in question had been marked for demolition twice before the collapse.Collapse
The collapse occurred in the Lagos Island district in Lagos, Nigeria at mid-morning on 13 March 2019. The collapsed building—which was slated to be demolished—was in poor condition, but was illegally being used to house commercial businesses, residential apartments, a primary school, and a nursery. The collapse of the structure killed several people and left over 60 people trapped in the rubble; many of those trapped were children from the third floor primary school. Over the next few days, rescue efforts succeed in recovering 45 people from the building, while another 20 were reported as having died in the collapse. According to neighborhood residents, the building was known to be in bad shape, and Ambode confirmed that the bottom two floors of the building had settled. Residents reported that only the absence of many students (who were participating in an out-of-school sporting event) prevented the death toll from being higher. The Lagos State Emergency Management Agency in a tweet claimed that number of people that died from the collapse were 18 while 41 persons were injured. Of the 65 people in the building, 37 persons were rescued alive by rescuers.Effects
On March 19, 2019, the Lagos State Government set up an investigating and advisory committee on the collapsed building. The committee Chairman is Wasiu Olokunola. Following the collapse of the building, the State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) conducted integrity testing on buildings in the area and found that 150 buildings were in certified structural distress. The LASBCA procured court approval to demolish 80 of these buildings, and began demolition efforts two days following the collapse, giving little warning to residents.See also
*References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lagos school collapse, 2019 Building and structure collapses in 2019 Building and structure collapses in Nigeria March 2019 events in Nigeria Disasters in Lagos State School collapse Lagos Island 2019 disasters in Nigeria