In a heart-stopping moment, students and teachers at Yemco Nursery, Primary and Comprehensive College in Lagos’ Ogba area cheated death on Monday, March 9.
The four-storey building housing the school collapsed around midday at 11 Adudatan Street, behind County Hospital in the Aguda axis, mere minutes after everyone was rushed to safety.
Eyewitnesses watched in horror as the structure gave way, but quick thinking turned potential disaster into relief.
“It was a miracle,” one resident told TheCable. Earlier warnings had surfaced when wooden planks tumbled from the roof, sparking neighborhood panic and a hasty evacuation that saved lives.
“The students narrowly escaped the incident. It was just about three minutes after they were evacuated from the building that the structure collapsed,” the resident said, adding that the structure had not shown obvious signs that it was about to give way.
According to the witness, an elderly man in the area alerted the school authorities that the building might be unsafe, prompting the quick evacuation of the occupants.
Taiwo Ridwan, another resident, said the building showed signs of distress shortly before the collapse, according to the report by TheCable
“At first, the house started cracking little by little. The window frames had already fallen apart. After some minutes, the cement body of the house began peeling off. Not long after that the building just sank,” Ridwan said.
Officials of the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service were later reported to have secured the scene and restricted access to the area.
Part of the property used for residential purposes remained standing beside the collapsed structure, report added.
No casualties had been reported as of the time of this report. The Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service was yet to issue an official statement on the incident, the report also noted
Attempts to obtain an official reaction from Margaret Adeseye, the service’s director of public affairs, it stated, were unsuccessful.
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