A two-storey building collapsed in the Oyingbo area of Lagos in the early hours of Monday, trapping an unknown number of residents and triggering a frantic overnight rescue operation by emergency services including teams from the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Services.
The building, located at No. 54, Cole Street, near the Cemetery Bus Stop, crumbled shortly after midnight. The Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service confirmed it received a distress call at 12:20 a.m., with firefighters from the Sari Iganmu Fire Station arriving on the scene within nine minutes to begin a desperate search for survivors.
Margaret Adeseye, Director of the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, provided an update, stating that 15 individuals have been successfully rescued alive from the rubble so far.
The survivors include seven adult males, four adult females, and four children, all of whom sustained varying degrees of injury.
“The victims have been transported to the Federal Medical Centre, Ebute Meta, and the General Hospital, Odan, Lagos Island, for urgent medical attention,” Adeseye confirmed in a statement sent to TheWest Newspaper.
Preliminary investigations have revealed a critical and troubling detail: the ill-fated structure had previously been identified and marked as “distressed” by the relevant authorities. Despite the clear warning, the building was still fully occupied by residents at the time of its collapse, raising immediate questions about enforcement and preventative measures.
The incident has thrown the community into chaos, with residents and sympathizers gathering at the site as emergency crews worked under floodlights to comb through the unstable debris.
Adeseye assured the public that rescue efforts are ongoing and that her team, in collaboration with other emergency management agencies, remains “on site and fully mobilised to ensure that every trapped individual is safely recovered.”
As of 6:00 a.m. Monday, no fatalities had been officially confirmed. However, the number of people still trapped beneath the wreckage remains unknown, and rescue teams are racing against time to find them.







