The corpses of the Managing Director, Fourscore Heights Limited, Mr Femi Osibona, and his friend, a United States of America-based Nigerian businessman, Wale Bob-Oseni, have been recovered from the 21-storey building that collapsed on Gerrard Road in the Ikoyi area of Lagos State.
It was learnt that their bodies were found on Thursday by responders during the recovery operation at the scene of the incident.
Bob-Oseni, a real-estate dealer, was on his way back to the US on Monday when he got a call from Osibona to check out the project.
Both friends were subsequently trapped when the building collapsed.
It was reported that the 21-storey building crumbled on Monday around 2:00 p.m when Osibona, who owned the project, his clients and workers were on the site.
One of our reporters, who was at the scene on Thursday, reported that no fewer than 40 corpses had so far been recovered from the site.
However, the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, around 1:00 p.m said 32 bodies were recovered.
Meanwhile, a senior government officer, who did not want to be identified said that 35 males and three females were brought out dead from the rubble as of 11.50am on Thursday.
However, the state governor, Sanwo-Olu, while addressing journalists on Thursday around 1pm, said the state Ministry of Health was in charge of taking corpses to the morgue.
He said, “As we stand here and we speak, we have recovered a total of 32 dead bodies and they have been transported to the morgue and the reason why the corpses were moved to the IDH is because it’s one of the foremost preserved morgues we have in Lagos.
“Let’s understand what the chain of command is. This is a Lagos State site and so the Lagos State’s chain of command and control is from the state Ministry of Health; they are the ones that have taken corpses to the morgue so they are accountable and the people that are moving corpses here are staff of the Lagos State Ministry of Health; the staff that are leading rescue here are staff of LASEMA.
“A dead body is not what you hide; it’s what you take to the morgue and it’s only when it’s accountable from here to the morgue that we have a proper register of it.”
Speaking on why families were not able to identify their corpses, Sanwo-Olu said autopsies had not been concluded.
“The coroner inquest takes their turn and the certification by the pathologists are currently going on. We’re pushing them to ensure they can work very quickly to make if not all the bodies but some of the bodies ready by tomorrow (Friday).
“That is the deadline we have pushed them to so families can come and look and identify the bodies and at the appropriate time take their body away,” he added.
The governor, however, said he would give an exception to the man who came from Abuja to check the photographs of the bodies recovered and see if his son was there.
Sanwo-Olu noted that the independent panel that would investigate the collapse had been officially inaugurated and given a seal of office.
He said, “They have all the powers in case they want to summon, ask and engage anybody whatsoever in the course of their investigation to be able to give a thorough objective and transparent advice and recommendations coming out from the investigation panel and they have 30 days turnaround to do their work because of the importance and urgency.”
Sanwo-Olu, has declared three days of mourning for the victims of the collapsed building.
The governor, in a statement by the state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Gbenga Omotoso, commiserated with all those who lost their loved ones in the tragic incident.
“All flags are to be flown at half-mast in public and private buildings and official engagements cancelled during the mourning period,” he added.
Sanwo-Olu noted that since the help desk was opened on Wednesday, only 19 names of missing persons had been registered with the state government.
He said the number of persons trapped in the collapsed building remained unclear.