As rescue work at the scene of last Friday’s collapsed building used as guest house by the Synagogue Church of All Nations, SCOAN, was concluded last Thursday, but the South African government said 17 of its nationals were still unaccounted for.

This is just as SCOAN has remained silent on the identities and number of persons who lodged in the building, but insisted that the attack was targeted at its Senior Pastor, Prophet Temitope Joshua.

Thus, the official number of lives that perished in the five storey building which collapsed at 12.44pm, is 80, while the survivors were 131, according to the National Emergency Management Authority.

This is just as SCOAN finally released an official statement yesterday, maintaining that the tragedy occurred shortly after a plane which flew very low, hovered round the building.

Indication also emerged that some of the survivors have been discharged from the hospitals and have returned to their respective abodes.

It was learnt that DNA tests would first be conducted on some of the decomposed bodies with a view to ascertaining their true identities.

Vanguard reliably gathered that there are plans to fly the remains of foreign victims to their respective countries. As at yesterday, arrangements on how this would be done was reportedly going on between authorities of the countries concerned  and SCOAN.

Among the countries is South Africa.

South Africa’s High Commissioner to Nigeria, Lulu Mnguni, was quoted by AFP as saying that 17 of his compatriots were unaccounted for and that the church had set up a hotline in Johannesburg for concerned relatives.