Pupils and students of a school in Lagos narrowly avoided disaster on Monday after the building housing their classrooms collapsed just minutes after they were evacuated.
The four-storey structure, located at 11 Adudatu Street behind County Hospital in the Aguda area of Ogba, accommodates Yemco Nursery, Primary and Comprehensive College.
According to eyewitnesses, the incident occurred around midday. Shortly before the collapse, parts of the roof began giving way as wooden planks reportedly fell, prompting alarm among those inside the building.
School authorities quickly alerted staff and students, who were evacuated from the premises as a precaution.
A resident who spoke to TheCable said the timing of the evacuation prevented what could have been a major tragedy.
“The students narrowly escaped the incident. It was just about three minutes after they were evacuated from the building that the structure collapsed,” the resident said.
The resident also noted that the building had not previously shown clear warning signs that it was about to fail.
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However, another eyewitness, Taiwo Ridwan, said there were signs of structural distress shortly before the collapse.
“At first, the house started cracking little by little. The window frames had already fallen apart.
“After some minutes, the cement body of the house began peeling off. Not long after that, the building just sank.”
Officials from the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service later arrived at the scene and secured the area.
As of the time the report was filed, authorities confirmed that no casualties had been recorded.