Death Toll In Synagogue Building Collapse Hits 44

Church Building Collapse Debris

Tears flowed ceaselessly in Lagos yesterday as bulldozers excavating the rubbles of the collapsed Synagogue Guest House being built by Synagogue Church of All Nations exhumed additional 24 dead bodies from the rubble.

The incident shrank the usually teeming crowd of worshipers at the weekly church service as many members stayed away.

Mrs Aduke Olawale, a member of the church, said, “What happened is not ordinary. The government must investigate the reason for the collapse. The church members are afraid of further attacks. That is why many did not come to church.”

One of the survivors who gave his name as Lawuyi said, “I am not a member of Synagogue Church of All Nations. I operate decking machine for the project. I was loosening a bag of cement when I heard a loud noise and people started running here and some block injured my legs.

“I have been coming here since Friday to see if my friends trapped in the down floor will survive but today they brought them out dead. They were dead, they are gone.”

Confirming the number of deaths and survivors, the information officer of the National Emergency Management Agency,( NEMA), Mr. Ibrahim Farinloye, said that the rescue operation was yet to be concluded.

Farinloye at time of filing this report said 41 persons had been recovered dead and 130 persons rescued from the collapsed building. Later the figures went up to 44 dead and 140 injured.

Also speaking, the General Manager of Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Dr. Femi Oke-Osanyintolu, said, “When we have a disaster of this magnitude, we need stakeholders in the safety sector to be on ground. We have taken every rescued person to the Igando and Isolo General Hospital and the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH).

Meanwhile Synagogue Church members based in Nigeria and abroad, who took to the official Facebook page of the church, stated that it was wrong to question the calling of their leader for failing to foresee the disaster that befell his ministry. The majority of them condemned in strong terms the alleged celebration of the calamity that has left over 100 people wounded with varying degrees of injuries.

During Service on Sunday, the founder and General overseer of the Synagogue Church of All Nations, Prophet T. B. Joshua has alleged that Boko Haram may be responsible for the collapse of a six-storey building in the church premises.

Joshua, who told members of his church on Sunday not to be afraid, said the attack was targeted at him and not at them.

The prophet made it clear that the collapse of the six-storey building at around 11.45am on Friday has so far led to the death of no fewer than 44 persons was a Boko Haram attack.

Joshua buttressed his claim by showing to his congregation on the Emmanuel TV the chronology of events shortly before and after the accident as captured by the church’s CCTV.