Updated: How excavator man working on street drain caused Lagos mosque collapse (+ photos)

An excavator operator working on a reconstruction of a street drain was responsible for the collapse on Sunday afternoon of a Lagos mosque, a storey-building, residents of the area have said.

Some of the residents in conjunction with rescue teams from the state were feverishly still working as of 5pm Sunday to bring out some of those trapped under the rubble.

Some trapped persons including  children were earlier rescued and those injured rushed to hospitals.

The central mosque caved in after the afternoon prayer along Yusuf/Sotinoye Junction in the Papa Ajao area of Mushin.

The Lagos Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) confirmed five persons were rescued, and one dead body recovered from the totally collapsed mosque.

Chairman of the mosque, Qasim Keshinro Babatunde, said he was in the mosque when the incident happened.

He said he had complained that the space excavated was unnecessarily wide and deep and too close to the building.

“It was like a canal not a drain,” he said.

Babatunde was quoted by Muslim News as saying one person, a minor, died.
He added, “Over 20 worshippers who sustained various degrees of injuries are currently receiving treatment at different hospitals in both private and government-owned hospitals.”

An elder and resident of Yusuf Street who identified himself simply as Mr Adeyinka told Newstrends that some worshippers were still in the mosque including Islamic school pupils after the afternoon prayer when the bulldozer man digging the trench for the drain hit the building ground.

He said, “The mosque was too close to the expanded drain; it’s obviously too large. The drain was being expanded on Yusuf Street towards Ladipo Market Road.

“As the man was working in front of the mosque, I think the claw of the bulldozer had been hitting the edge of the foundation and the last strike brought the entire mosque down.

“It was after Zuhur salat (afternoon prayer) and many of the worshippers had just left the mosque, with a few people left and students of the Madrasat (Islamic school) in the upper floor.”

Another resident, Taiye Oseni, said, “Some of those trapped were brought out lifeless; many were injured and promptly rushed to nearby hospitals.

“The digging was too close to the mosque. They have asked everyone to leave the building when the work reached the spot if they knew they won’t any space at all for the structure to rest on.”

Permanent Secretary of LASEMA, Femi Osanyintolu, in a statement listed the emergency responders at the scene as the LASEMA response team, the police, the Lagos State Ambulance Service, and the Lagos State Fire Service.

The PS in an updated statement later said, “Upon arrival at the scene at 01:40pm, a storey building (mosque) was found to have collapsed and preliminary investigation carried out upon arrival at the scene revealed that an excavator clearing the road recklessly hit a mosque (a storey building) by the road side which resulted in the mosque collapsing as prayer was about to commence. Four victims were immediately rushed to the hospital.

“A total of 10 people were trapped beneath the rubble. Search and Rescue of the victims trapped under the rubbles under the supervision of the PS was conducted with the aid of the Agency’s heavy duty equipment crane, Hiab and an excavator.

“One adult was retrieved dead while the others received pre-hospital care on the scene from the Agency’s Pre Hospital Care Unit. One with serious injuries was transferred to hospital.”