Corpses of two siblings killed by a collapsed fence on Saturday in the Ikorodu area of Lagos State have been recovered by residents of the area.
The two identified as Gbolahan and Olayinka Atolagbe died after the fence of a neighbouring hotel collapsed on their house at Alao Street, Isawo, in the Ikorodu Local Government Area of the state on Saturday, July 22 after heavy downpour.
Aged nine and seven, the siblings’ corpses were recovered after hours of being trapped in debris amidst rescue efforts by residents of the area.
The father of the deceased children, Ahmed Atolagbe, in an interview with journalists, said the collapsed fence had been weakened by rainwater from the neighbouring hotel building.
He said, “I was not at home when it happened because I left the house very early in the morning to work. As I was getting to the shop, they called me on my phone that something was going on in our house. I was shocked because everything was fine when I left for work.
“I rushed back home and they told me that the fence of the hotel nearby collapsed on our house. The fence was soaked in the rainwater coming from the hotel compound, which weakened the foundation of the fence.
“That was what made that fence collapse on our house and kill my two children, Gbolahan and Olayinka. Their Muslim names are Abdulwahab and Rokeeb. We have been living in the house for 10 years now.”
The spokesman for the National Emergency Management Agency, South-West, Ibrahim Farinloye, confirmed the incident in a press statement.