Synagogue Church: Death Toll Rises To 49; As Police Deploy Sniffer Dogs

According to reports, Many foreigners were among the dead and injured in last weekend’s collapsed building at the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN), it emerged yesterday. The death toll, which was initially 17, rose to 44 on Sunday and  climbed to 49 by 6pm yesterday. Rescue efforts continued as police sniffer dogs were brought in to locate possible areas where people could still be trapped.More than 130 people have  been retrieved from the rubble. They are receiving treatment in hospitals in Lagos.

National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) spokesman Ibrahim Farinloye confirmed the casualty figure. “The Commissioner of Police has ordered the release of five dogs after a collective decision to use the dogs by responding agencies. NEMA has asked the Police Disaster Management Unit to facilitate and manage the dogs immediately. We are still working, we cannot say at what percentage we are now. We are looking at strategic areas were we can recover trapped persons.”

On the chances of survival of the injured, Farinloye said those rescued early have over 80 per cent survival rate. “It is not possible for the church to have any list. Nobody is praying for a disaster. At present, we have no challenges, we have synergised the differences and we are moving forward.

“I just received a call from the Australian Embassy and they made enquiries on their nationals involved. South Africa and other countries including France and Germany, have been calling. “They are not specific whether any of their nationals are involved or not. We contact the church when anybody sends in any request so that they can check and tell us from their head count.”

The church still has not spoken on the number of people in the building, when it collapsed. Some foreign nationals have been going around looking for their relatives. A woman, who had a white paper containing the details of a Zimbabwean, Greenwich Ndanga, said the church had refused to tell her his whereabouts.

She alleged that he was among the occupants of the foreign guest house, adding that they had not been able to get across to him since the incident occurred.“No one is talking to us. I have been here since Friday, looking for him but no one is saying anything. Please help me because I do not know what to do again,” she said.

Relatives of Mr. Dayo Abbas, a carpenter who was said to have been working in the building, brought a coffin to the church premises, demanding for his body. The casket, which was inside a “danfo bus”, was not allowed to drive in and security personnel stopped reporters from taking shots of the scene.

Source: The Nation