Woman ‘walks out alive’ after being trapped for 3 days at collapsed Synagogue building

A 45-year-old-woman on Tuesday walked out alive from the rubbles of the collapsed building at the Synagogue Church of All Nations in Ikotun, Lagos, the News Agency of Nigeria quoted a rescue worker as saying.

The building collapsed on Friday.

Mr Ibrahim Farinloye, the public relations officer of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), south-west zone, told journalists in Lagos that the woman walked out on her own at 2am.

Farinloye did not give the identity of the woman.

He said that death toll from the building collapse had increased to 59, compared to 49 as at Monday.

Farinloye said that 131 persons had been rescued alive.

“A woman of about 45 years old walked out of the rubbles on her own around 2a.m today, while 10 more bodies were recovered, leaving 59 dead and 131 rescued alive,” Farinloye said.

He said that the rescue workers were likely to recover more bodies.

Emergency workers at the scene of the collapsed building on Tuesday deployed three police sniffer dogs to help to locate trapped victims.

The Lagos state commissioner of police, Mr Kayode Aderanti, had on Monday approved the use of the sniffer dogs for the rescue operations.

Vehicles conveying the dogs to the scene reportedly broke down on its way.

Farinloye said that the rescue exercise might be concluded on Tuesday, that the police and other security agencies are still on ground to ensure safety of lives and property.

The collapsed six-storeyed building, said to be a guest house for worshippers at the church, collapsed at about 1p.m.

Prophet TB Joshua, founder of the church, attributed the collapse to a mystery aircraft which, he said, hovered around the building for about 30 minutes before the incident.