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The death toll in last week’s collapse of a guesthouse at a
churchrun by a famous Nigerian preacher has risen to at least 70, a
rescue agency official said Wednesday.
Rescuers have helped 131 other people out of the rubble and still are
looking for more survivors from Friday’s collapse of the two-story
guesthouse at The Synagogue, Church Of All Nations, Nigerian Emergency
Management Agency spokesman Ibrahim Farinloye told reporters at the
collapse site.
The building, at the church run by televangelist T.B. Joshua in the
Ikotun area of Lagos, came down Friday afternoon amid work to build
additional floors, NEMA said.
Farinloye said NEMA hasn’t identified the victims. On Tuesday, South
African President Jacob Zuma said 67 South Africans were among the
dead.
“This is a particularly difficult time for South Africa. Not in the
recent history of our country have we had this large number of our
people die in one incident outside the country,” he said, according to
a statement released by the President’s office Tuesday.
NEMA said an investigation into the cause hasn’t begun. But on its
Facebook page Friday, NEMA said that two stories were being added
without fortifying the foundation of the initial structure, and that
there was a “high probability” this is what led to the collapse.
Joshua, dubbed “The Prophet” for his self-acclaimed healing powers and
prophesies, has a large following among Nigerians and followers across
the world.
His church attracts thousands of followers who attend every week to
listen to his sermons, which are also telecast live on the church’s
television station.
“People travel from around the world to witness and receive from the
mighty work that God is doing in the life of Prophet TB Joshua,” the
church’s website says.
CNN
