A 21-storey building under construction has collapsed on Gerard Road, Ikoyi.
It is estimated that over 50 persons are trapped under the rubble; from Arise TV, with reports stating the building’s owner might be among those trapped
As at the time of filling this report, Lagos State first responders have arrived the site to rescue those trapped inside the building. Heavy duty equipment and life detection devices have also been deployed at the site.
The building, located at I’m to collapsed around 3 p.m. on Monday.
Details unfolding have revealed from a Punch Newspaper follow-up that the Structural engineering firm, Prowess Engineering, that worked on the Foundation and initial floors pulled out, citing irreconcilable differences.
According to the Punch report, a letter from Prowess Engineering said it couldn’t guarantee the integrity of the third (collapsed building) from anything above the fourth floor.
The letter titled, ‘Re: Proposed Gerrard Terraces For Fourscore Limited,’ was signed by the company’s managing director, Muritala Olawale who confirmed its veracity to the Punch Newspaper correspondent.
It read, “This letter is to formally inform you of the withdraw of our structural consultancy service from the above named project. We arrived at this decision due to the fact that we no longer share the same vision with you as our client in terms of how the project is being executed.
“We can guarantee the integrity of the first two buildings and also work done up to the fourth floor of the third building supervised by us provided specifications have been met in terms of the required concrete strength. This we do not have control over as we do not have the concrete cube test results of each stage of the building till date. Also, note that we are not taking responsibility for any other construction errors that may have occurred overtime on the project.
“Furthermore, we request that our company’s name and logo be removed from the project board and also kindly notify all necessary approving authorities of our withdrawal from the project.