By Our Reporter
Lagos State Government has confirmed that eight people died in the Great Nigeria Insurance Building that caught fire a day to the Christmas, affirming its readiness to take proper and tough decision in pulling down other surroundings buildings affected by the inferno.
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu made this known after inspecting the GNI building on Friday, saying that eight corpses were retrieved from the 25-storey building that got burnt, while 13 people were rescued, adding that out of the recovered corpses only five were identified by their relatives.
The governor, while commiserating with the families of the affected victims,also urged the audience to observe a minute silence for the deceased.
The governor directed that 100 meters radius to where the building is should be closed for business activities, declaring the space as not safe.
This was just as Governor Sanwo-Olu stated that some corpses were said to be under the building, adding that pulling down of the building would be carried out when the temperature of the building is normal as, according to him, smoke was still billowing from the building as at Friday.
Sanwo-Olu, therefore, blamed the cause of the inferno on recklessness and carelessness of the traders, sadly noting that people were after their goods and unmindful of their own life.
"You know, a fire started and people were after their goods and not mindful of their own life. People were told to move, to leave, but people chose to want
to rescue goods that were under the building, even the vehicular movement hindered a whole lot of first responders from getting access to some of the locations that we're talking about.
"That's why we're still declaring that this whole area, 100 metres from this site, will remain shut.
"Like we said, lives have been lost and properties have been lost and a whole lot of livelihood has been destroyed. The reasons, we are still investigating the reasons. But one of the things that I
said when I came eight days ago is that we know that there's been a lot of recklessness and there's been a lot of carelessness going around the back of the building.
"It's going to be a tough decision, but it's going to be a proper decision that we're going to be taking to preserve life and property. Because when it happens, it is still on us. It's on us. And so we will not shy away from taking those responsibilities. So gentlemen of the press, you know, in terms of the place being safe. It's still not safe, right now!" the governor said.
"Even from a layman's view, one will know that the building and the entire area is completely distressed. We don't need any high-level reconfirmation but we'll do it, so that we can ascertain and certify ourselves," he added.
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