S. African death toll from Nigeria collapse climbs to 84
The guesthouse collapsed last week in the Ikotun suburb of Lagos, killing several people.
JOHANNESBURG
The number of South African nationals killed in the collapse of a church guesthouse in Nigeria last week has risen to 84, a South African diplomat has said.
Lulu Mnguni, South Africa's high commissioner to Nigeria, told the national SABC television channel that the South African death toll from the collapse of a guesthouse at Nigeria's Synagogue Church of All Nations had risen from 67 to 84.
The guesthouse collapsed last week in the Ikotun suburb of Lagos, killing several people.
South Africa's presidency earlier announced that 67 of its nationals had been killed in the building collapse.
More than 140 people were rescued alive, including a woman pulled from the rubble on Tuesday morning.
Sniffer dogs have been deployed at the scene to help rescue workers search for possible survivors.
"We received new information from our consulate in Lagos confirming the seriousness of the incident," an inter-ministerial task force said in a Friday press release.
"The team has confirmed that, at the time of the incident, there were a total of 349 South Africans in Lagos on matters connected to the church," it added.
The statement added that 256 South African nationals had been found alive.
The collapsed guesthouse belongs to prominent faith healer TB Joshua, a popular evangelist with a large following across southern Africa. Many of his followers in the region visit his church every month.
On Wednesday, the South African government sent a disaster management team to Nigeria to help search for survivors.
"An assessment team has arrived in Lagos to conduct an assessment on the ground as a matter of urgency," the inter-ministerial task force said.
South Africans have thronged to Johannesburg's O.R. Tambo International Airport in hopes of receiving loved ones back from Nigeria.
Some have been reunited with surviving family members, while others have sat waiting at the airport for days.
"I have been coming here for three days now with the hope that my uncle – who went to the Synagogue Church – might be among the survivors," a distraught Valencia Karabo told Anadolu Agency.
Anadolu Agency website contains only a portion of the news stories offered to subscribers in the AA News Broadcasting System (HAS), and in summarized form. Please contact us for subscription options.
