There is pandemonium as a seven-storey building under construction on Banana Island, Lagos State, Nigeria’s commercial city, has collapsed, trapping several construction workers.
The building, sources said, is Joe Faraday’s site, with ongoing construction work inside it.
Banana Island, which is one of the most expensive places to live in Africa, is an artificial island off the foreshore of Ikoyi, Lagos. The name of the posh island derives from the curvature of its shape.
The Lagos Territorial Head of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) confirmed the incident in a brief update on Wednesday evening, April 12, 2023.
The building reportedly collapsed around 3pm.
The Quest Times gathered that the Acting Coordinator of the South-West Zonal Office of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Ibrahim Farinloye, who confirmed the Banana Island building collapse, said that he and his team were on their way there.
“A report of a 7-Storey building under construction was just received at Banana Island. Workers trapped. We are mobilising to respond,” he said.
The Banana Island building collapse is the latest in a series of fatal building collapses in Lagos in recent years.
On November 1, 2021, a high-rise block of luxury flats under construction on Gerard Road, Ikoyi Lagos, collapsed, killing at least 42 people and injuring scores. There have also been building collapses in densely populated areas of Lagos Island and on the mainland, every other year.