By Peter Onyekachukwu 
By Peter Onyekachukwu
Tragedy struck in the Oyingbo area of Lagos State in the early hours of Monday when a two-storey building collapsed, trapping several occupants under the debris.
The incident occurred around 12:20 a.m. at 54 Cole Street, near Cemetery Bus Stop, throwing the neighbourhood into confusion as cries for help echoed through the night.
Confirming the incident, the Director of the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, Mrs. Margaret Adeseye, said operatives from the Sari-Iganmu Fire Station were immediately deployed to the site after receiving a distress call.
According to her, the collapsed structure had earlier been marked as distressed before it gave way, trapping many residents. She noted that rescue operations were ongoing, with emergency personnel working round the clock to save more lives.
“So far, 15 persons, seven men, four women, and four children have been rescued with varying degrees of injuries and taken to the Federal Medical Centre, Ebute-Metta, and the General Hospital, Odan, Lagos Island,” Adeseye said.
She added that the building had long been identified as weak, stressing that the incident reflected the need for stricter enforcement of safety regulations in the state’s construction sector.
Rescue teams from the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) and other first responders joined in the search for survivors, using excavators and sniffer dogs to comb through the wreckage.
As dawn broke, anxious residents and relatives of the trapped victims gathered at the scene, watching helplessly as emergency workers battled to save more lives.
The collapse adds to a worrying trend of building failures in Lagos, which have been blamed on poor enforcement, substandard materials, and unprofessional construction practices.
In recent years, Lagos has witnessed multiple similar tragedies, including the Ikoyi high-rise collapse in November 2021, which claimed over 40 lives, and another in Yaba in September 2025, where a four-storey building crumbled, killing several residents.