Death toll rises to 22 in Nigeria building collapse

Lagos, Nov 4 Rescuers found more bodies from the rubble of a 21-storey building that collapsed earlier this week in the city of Lagos, Nigeria's economic hub, bringing the death toll to 22.

So far nine people have been rescued since the collapse on Monday of the building under construction, in the Ikoyi area of Lagos, but an unknown number of people remain unaccounted for, Ibrahim Farinloye, coordinator of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in Lagos state, said in an update on Wednesday.

Rescue operations are still underway, and an investigation into the cause of the collapse is ongoing, Xinhua news agency quoted Farinloye as saying.

Residents living in the area told Xinhua that the building had been under construction for more than one year and over 50 people, mostly construction workers, were trapped under the rubble.

Earlier on Tuesday, Governor of Lagos Babajide Sanwo-Olu said the state government is setting up an independent panel to find out what caused the collapse.

"It will independently investigate the remote and immediate causes of the incident and make recommendations on how to prevent future occurrences," he said.

"The investigation is not part of the internal probe already being conducted by the government."

Local media said the owner of the building did not adhere to building regulations and that the structure was supposed to be only 15 stories tall.

Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor