The National Emergency Management Agency on Monday said that sniffer dogs are to be deployed at the site of the collapsed six-storey building at the Synagogue Church of All Nations.
Ibrahim Farinloye, NEMA’s South-West spokesman, disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos.
An uncompleted guest house of the church, housing worshippers, collapsed on Friday, leading to the death of some worshippers and leaving many others wounded.
Farinloye said: “We are deploying Nigeria Police sniffer dogs to assist in locating trapped victims as we are getting close to an area suspected to have more people trapped.
“The state Commissioner of Police has ordered release of five dogs after a collective decision to use the dogs by responding agencies and NEMA asked the police disaster management unit to facilitate to manage the dogs immediately.
“The dogs will assist in search and rescue and help in early conclusion of the operations.”
The spokesman said that the death toll at the site increased from 44 to 46 early on Monday.
Farinloye said that two more dead bodies were recovered from under the rubbles of the collapsed building.
Farinloye said that about 130 injured worshippers were currently receiving treatment
According to Farinloye, the injured victims are being treated at Isolo General Hospital, while the dead bodies have been deposited at Gbagada General Hospital Mortuary.
NAN reports that emergency responders are continuing their rescue operations at the site of the collapsed building.
When NAN visited, policemen, operatives of the Department of State Service officials and firemen were busy at the site alongside NEMA and Lagos State Emergency Management Agency officials.
Members of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps were also on ground.
NAN reports that the media unit of the church distributed clips of the Closed Circuit Television recordings of what transpired before the collapse to journalists at the scene.
A trader in the area, Saheed Taiwo, told NAN that the evacuators used in excavating the rubbles at the site were too slow, noting that there were still people trapped in the rubbles.
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