Taiwo Jimoh 
The corpse of an 11-yearold girl and two other persons have been recovered by emergency responders at the scene of the mosque that collapsed in the Papa Ajao, Mushin area of Lagos State yesterday. An eyewitness said the mosque collapsed at about 2pm when some Muslims were praying.
It was learnt that immediately the mosque collapsed some youths and residents of the area rushed to rescue those trapped under the rumble, but there was little they could do to help until Lagos State Emergency Management Agency arrived the scene and started operation. A resident of the area who simply gave his name as Abiodun, said the mosque never showed any sign of distress, “we only saw it collapse.
It was a surprise to me.” He said when the building collapsed, “those of us who were around the scene rushed to rescue those trapped, but there was little we could do to rescue them, but we still tried our best. “We were still working on the collapse mosque when the responders arrived, yet we are still assisting them to see if we could bring some of them out. Thank God we were able to bring out an 11-year -old girl. We are still assisting the responders to rescue those trapped under the rumbles, it is a very pathetic situation.”
Meanwhile, the Lagos State Emergency Manage – ment Agency (LASEMA), says seven persons have been rescued and three dead bodies recovered from the collapsed mosque Dr Femi Oke-Osanyintolu, Permanent Secretary of LASEMA, made this known in a statement. Oke-Osanyintolu said that the mosque located on Yusuf Street, off Ladipo Road, Papa Ajao, collapsed while prayer was ongoing.
The Permanent Secretary said that search and rescue operations were taking place under his supervision Also, the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Ben- jamin Hundeyin, confirmed the incident while responding to the tragedy. He said: “The rescue operation is ongoing, but as I speak with you, the corpse of an 11-year-old girl has been recovered. The operation is still ongoing.” New Telegraph learnt that people were in the mosque when it suddenly caved in during afternoon prayers.
