Prof. Olawale Oke, the Chief Medical Director of the hospital, made this known at a news conference in Lagos, according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
Prof. Oke said that the hospital sent the specimens to South Africa and was awaiting the results of the analyses.
The guesthouse of the SCOAN collapsed on Sept. 12, killing 115 people, mostly South Africans.
Oke said:
“You are aware that an inquest is on now; so, there is limit to what I can tell you about this. I can tell you that the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital has collected the samples of family members of victims of the collapsed building for DNA testing at a Pathology and Forensic Medicine.
“This is to ensure that all victims of the collapsed building are properly identified and delivered to their various families for burial rites. The DNA is being done free.”
According to him, as 80 per cent of the victims were South Africans, a specimen wasn’t taken from the relatives, becauseat least two relatives from South Africa have to be brought to Nigeria.
Thus, the state decided to select a laboratory in South Africa that is equally competent to do the DNA so that 80 per cent of the relations who are South Africans can have their specimens taken.
“The specimens of their Nigerian counterparts have been flown to South Africa. The post-mortem for all of them have been conducted, the dental recognition process done, X-rays have been done where necessary; so, we are just waiting for the results to be out,“
he said.
Speaking on the matter, Dr Francis Williams, the Chairman of the LASUTH Board, said that the hospital had the capacity to effectively manage crises and emergencies within the state.
Williams said that the hospital had also improved in terms of patients care, infrastructure development, staff welfare and training as well as procurement and refurbishment of medical equipment.
He urged the public to utilise the services of primary healthcare centres and general hospitals within their vicinities to reduce the number of patients thronging to the specialist hospital to enhance effective healthcare delivery.
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