A high-rise building under construction collapsed in Nigeria’s commercial capital Lagos on Monday, burying people inside, construction workers and rescue officials said.
Officials could not confirm how many people were trapped, but workers and locals scrambled to dig people out of the rubble of the 25-floor building in Lagos’s Ikoyi district.
“It is a 25-storey building still under construction. Many workers are trapped under the rubble. We are trying to rescue them,” said Femi Oke-Osanyintolu, an official with Lagos State emergency management agency.
“We cannot say at this moment how many are dead. The rescue operation is ongoing.” Workers at the site, some covered in dust, said dozens of their colleagues could have been inside when the building collapsed.
“I feel so bad because the people that are inside they have family,” said Latif Shittu.
Ikoyi is one of the more wealthy residential and business districts in Lagos, the major commercial city of Africa’s most populous nation.
