One of the school children who died in Wednesday’s Lagos school building collapse told his mum he didn’t want to go to school on the day, being his birthday, SR reports.
A three-storeyed building including
the Ohen Nursery and Primary School, Ita Faji, Lagos Island, collapsed
on Wednesday morning, killing at least 12 people as of yesterday’s
count. Families and neighbours of the victims were heard giving
different accounts of what might have been done to avert the incident.
One parent who became an emergency worker overnight said:
“I
have rescued my five-year-old son, he survived; now I’m here to help
others but the LASEMA officials are making things very difficult and
slow.”
He added that another child killed in the accident might
have been alive had events gone another way. “Today is the boy’s
birthday; he said he didn’t want to go to school because it’s his
birthday but his mother insisted.
He was among those that first died.”
Another said: “A woman couldn’t afford fees so she came to beg in the
morning but the proprietor turned her back with her child; she has just
heard what happened and is thanking God.”
One story which
seemed very consistent among the crowd at the scene of the incident and
at the hospital is that “of a woman who has about 15 to 20 (depending on
who’s telling the story) kids with her and who are all trapped in
rubble”.
They all said the woman was able to “call someone on
the phone to give a picture of things in the rubble but warned that she
may run out of phone battery soon”.
Rescue efforts at the crash are expected to continue on Thursday.
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