Tragedy in Lagos: Many trapped as two-storey building collapses in Oyingbo

A midnight disaster struck Oyingbo, Lagos, as a two-storey building collapsed in the early hours of Monday, trapping several occupants beneath the rubble.

The incident occurred around 12:20 a.m. at 54 Cole Street, near cemetery bus stop, sending residents into panic as cries for help echoed through the night.

Confirming the incident, the Director of the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, Margaret Adeseye, said in a statement obtained that emergency responders from the Sari-Iganmu Fire Station were immediately deployed to the site after receiving a distress call.

Adeseye explained that it was an ongoing rescue operation involving a two-storey building which had reportedly been marked as distressed before collapsing on the occupants.

She revealed that the structure had earlier been identified as weak, raising concerns about enforcement lapses that may have contributed to the tragedy.

So far, fifteen people including seven men, four women, and four children have been rescued with varying degrees of injuries and taken to the Federal Medical Centre, Ebute-Metta, and the General Hospital, Odan, Lagos Island.

Rescue efforts are still ongoing as emergency teams continue to search through the debris in a desperate attempt to save more lives.

The latest collapse adds to a growing list of building disasters in Lagos, often linked to weak regulatory oversight, substandard materials, and poor construction practices.

In November 2021, a luxury high-rise building under construction in Ikoyi collapsed, killing at least 42 people. Similarly, in September 2025, a four-storey structure in Yaba crumbled, leaving several people dead and others trapped.

As anxious residents gather at the Oyingbo site, emergency officials are racing against time, hoping to pull more survivors from the ruins of yet another preventable tragedy.