At least three dead, dozens missing after 21-story building collapses in Nigeria

An apartment building collapsed in Nigeria’s largest city on Monday, leaving three people dead and dozens missing.

People at the scene in Lagos were angry with officials after they said rescue efforts did not begin for hours after the collapse, according to The Associated Press. 

Eric Tetteh, a construction worker who escaped the building with his brother, told the AP he estimated that more than 100 people were inside the 21-story building when it collapsed.

Lagos Police Commissioner Hakeem Odumosu confirmed the deaths and said at least three survivors had been pulled from the rubble on Monday, the wire service added. 

“When they work finish, they will come outside and they will play with us and talk about the work,” said Olayemi Bello, who had five friends whom he feared died in the collapse. “Now, nobody. All of them are dead.”

Though the cause of the collapse was unknown, some observers told the AP that private developers did a poor job building the structure in an effort to satisfy increasing demands for housing in the populous city. 

The building, which was a construction site for luxury apartments, was located in Ikoyi neighborhood, an affluent part of the city, according to CNN.

Workers said the building had been under construction for roughly two years, and the AP reported that incidents and collapses are relatively common in Lagos due to weak building codes and regulations.

Two buildings in Lagos, including one that had a school inside of it, collapsed in 2019 and killed dozens of people, CNN added.