Frightened and wailing parents, wednesday, besieged different hospitals on the Lagos Island, frantically
searching for their children, to ensure they were alive.
Our reporter was at the General
Hospital, Marina, Lagos, and witnessed hundreds of parents, especially women,
stormed the hospital, demanding to be allowed in, to check if their children
were among those receiving treatment.
Some of them lamented that they had
been to three and more hospital, but couldn’t find their children. They refused
to believe or give up hope that their children could be dead.
One of the women, who were at
General Hospital, Marina, said: “My brother’s two children died in the
building. Only Amoke Rasheed, an 11 years old Primary 5 pupil survived. The
other two, Lasibat Raseed, eight years old and Shukurat Rasheed died.”
Another man, whose son died, wept bitterly.
Overcome with grief, he demanded for the corpse of his son. Filled with despair and frustration, he pounced on hospital security
guards and started fighting them.
From time to time, an ambulance
drives into the hospital, bringing in patients from the collapsed building
scene. Some of the patients are alive, while some were in body bags.
To ease the pressure of the
situation, management of the hospital pasted a list of casualties, numbering
over 40 as those that it had received at the hospital, stating on the list that
their condition was stable.
The Permanent Secretary (PS), in the
Ministry of Health, Lagos State, Dr. Titilayo Goncalves, confirmed that
some of the casualties had been transferred to other hospitals for further
treatment. Goncalves said that the hospital had earlier created a centre where
all patients were taken to and given emergency care.
According to her, once the patients
had been stabilised, they were moved to tertiary hospitals, including the Lagos
State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja, and Gbagada.
She added: “So far, we have received
about 20 casualties; five victims have been transferred to the LASUTH; three to
Gbagada General Hospital and others to Onikan General Hospital. Some people are
still being brought out from the rubble.”
The PS reassured parents and
guardians of the victims that members of the medical team were on top of the
situation.
“People should keep calm and be assured
that the very best of service is being provided to all victims brought in
alive,” she said.
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