By Charles Adingupu
Despite assurances by officials of the Lagos state Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development that nobody was trapped at the rumbles of the seven-storey collapsed building in the high brow Banana Island, Ikoyi, a man who identified himself as Taiwo Adeyemi, in the wee hours of yesterday, claimed to be the father of the missing worker at the site.
Adeyemi who speaks passable English, insisted that his son, (names withheld) who was one of the workers at the site is still trapped at the rumbles of the collapsed building.
He said that his son was at the building when they heard the crack that the building was about to collapsed, adding that his son was more interested in evacuating workers in the building before rescuing himself.
The distressed father of the missing worker, stated that his child was not lucky as the building eventually collapsed upon him, adding that while the rescue operation started, his cell phone rang severally without corresponding response, and later, ceases to ring.
“I want to see my child, dead or alive. I’m convinced beyond reasonable doubt that the boy is still trapped in the rumble, he wailed.
It would be recalled that during the rescue operation exercise, an official of the Lagos state government had announced that no fatality was recorded as those rescued from the rumbles suffered minor injuries and were treated immediately except one of them that was serious injured but was admitted in an undisclosed hospital in Ikoyi.
Though, the official was quick to add: “We heard that one of the workers was still trapped in the rumble. We called his Cell phone; it rang several times without response. After a time, it stopped ringing. However, we have used modern technology devices to ascertain if there is anybody still trapped beneath the rumbles. I can assure you that nobody is there,” he said.
Already, the Lagos State government had begun investigation to unravel circumstances surrounding the collapse of the seven-storey building in Banana Island, Ikoyi area of the state, on Wednesday.
The structure reportedly caved in when some of the construction workers on site had closed for the day.
Earlier, the Deputy Director, Public Affairs, Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development, Mukaila Sanusi, said the Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Tayo Bamgbose-Martins, was on the site to assess the situation and flag off investigation.
