Some residents of Cole Street in the Oyingbo area of Lagos State, where a two-storey building collapsed, leaving one person dead and 26 others injured, have disclosed that the occupants of the building ignored visible distress signs on the structure.
PUNCH Metro correspondent, who visited the scene of the incident on Monday, learnt this in multiple interviews with some of the residents.
Our correspondent also observed that some goods, including crates of beer and motorcycles, were destroyed by the impact of the collapse.
Emergency responders, including officials of the Lagos State Building Control Agency, Red Cross, and Lagos Neighbourhood Security Corps, were on the ground carrying out rescue operations.
Speaking with our correspondent, a shop owner in the building, who identified herself as Mrs Adaeze, noted that the government had warned them to evacuate the building because it was in distress.
She stressed that her goods, worth millions of naira, were still trapped under the rubble.
Adaeze said, “I was called in the middle of the night that the building had collapsed, and I had to rush down here. When I got here, I saw that my goods, worth millions of naira, were trapped under the building. Some of them have been destroyed.
“The government had been giving us notice to leave the place because the building is distressed, but the owner has not been cooperating.”
She appealed for government support to cushion the impact of the loss she had incurred.
Another resident, Habeeb Jamiu, noted that the incident followed a midnight rainfall.
He said residents were alerted by the wailing of the occupants who were calling for help from under the debris of the collapsed building.
According to Jamiu, the building had shown signs of distress, but the occupants ignored them.
Jamiu narrated, “I was awake and not far from this place when some others and I who were together learnt that a building had collapsed. It was immediately after the rain stopped around 1 a.m.
“When we got here, we heard the wailing of people and began to rescue them before the emergency responders came.
“It is true that the building was in distress. When you passed around the building, you would see signs of visible cracks that would make you wonder why they were still living there.”
Another resident, Hakeem Ibrahim, corroborated the claims that the building was in distress before it collapsed.
He expressed concerns that some people might still be under the rubble because of the number of people living in the house.
“I was at Roundabout when I saw police vehicles and an ambulance entering the area, which prompted me to follow them. When I got close, I heard people shouting that everyone should come out. When I got here, I saw that the building had collapsed.
“Some residents had begun rescuing some of the occupants before the emergency responders came. The building was indeed in distress.”
Our correspondent, who visited the hospital where some of the injured victims were taken, could not get their reactions, as medical officials said they were not fit enough to speak with the media.
PUNCH Online had earlier reported that one person was confirmed dead while 26 survivors were rescued from the collapsed building.
The Controller General of the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, Margaret Adeseye, gave an update in a situation report.
She wrote, “Update: One recovered dead as (survivors) rescued alive move to 26.”
She had also stated that the building, which had previously shown signs of distress, gave way while residents were still inside.
“It is an ongoing rescue involving an existing two-storey building which has reportedly been marked in distress before collapsing on the occupants,” the statement said.
Lagos State has witnessed multiple building-collapse incidents in 2025.
On September 25, six persons were rescued after a two-storey building collapsed on Modupeola Street, Mangoro, in the Alimosho Local Government Area of the state.
Similarly, on September 16, two construction workers were rescued after four days from the rubble of a collapsed building in the Ebute Metta area of the state.
These incidents underscore the recurring nature of such disasters in the state.
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