The death toll from Thursday’s building collapse in the Satellite Town area of Lagos State has risen to four, with an eight-month-old baby and an 18-year-old boy identified among the victims, as emergency responders continue efforts to search for possible survivors trapped beneath the rubble.

SaharaReporters gathered this during a visit to the scene of the incident at about 4:40pm on Thursday.

Sources involved in the rescue operation disclosed that the body of an eight-month-old baby was recovered from the debris hours after the building collapsed along Old Ojo Road, near Alakija Bus Stop, off the Lagos-Badagry Expressway.

According to eyewitness accounts, the infant was being breastfed by the mother when the structure suddenly caved in.

The mother survived the collapse and was rushed to the Nigerian Navy Hospital for treatment, while the baby did not make it out alive.

“Another dead body, about an eight-month-old baby, has just been recovered. The mother is in the Navy hospital. She was breastfeeding the baby when the building collapsed,” a source at the scene told SaharaReporters.

The tragedy also claimed the life of an 18-year-old identified simply as Gabriel, whose death has left his family devastated.

Speaking with SaharaReporters at the scene, Gabriel’s brother said he was still struggling to come to terms with the loss.

“My brother died from the collapse. I was with him yesterday. Only for me to hear that he’s dead today. We stay in the same compound and we are from the same place,” he said.

He identified the deceased as Gabriel, who worked at a phone repair shop operating inside the building.

The collapsed structure m housed residential apartments as well as businesses, including a Betnaja outlet and phone repair shops.

As of the time of filing this report, SaharaReporters gathered that 17 people had been rescued alive from the wreckage and taken to hospitals for treatment, while four bodies had been recovered.

Rescue workers continued to comb through the rubble with excavators and other heavy-duty equipment amid fears that additional victims could still be trapped underneath.

Earlier, the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service said it received a distress call at about 11:37am and immediately mobilised personnel from the Ijegun-Egba Fire Station, who arrived at the scene by 11:49am.

The agency had initially reported that 10 victims were rescued alive, but the figure later increased to 17 as rescue operations progressed.

Emergency agencies participating in the operation include the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Federal Fire Service, Nigeria Police Force, Nigerian Navy, Lagos Neighbourhood Safety Corps (LNSC), Nigerian Red Cross Society and other emergency response teams.

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Rescue efforts were still ongoing as of the time of this report, with officials warning that more victims could remain trapped beneath the debris.

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