More than one hundred people got buried in rubble after a 25-story skyscraper suddenly collapsed during construction.
The incident takes place in an upscale area of the city of Lagos in Nigeria where an Ikoyi district apartment building came crashing down on workers at around 1.30 pm on Monday.
According to the preliminary reports, the exact number of people trapped beneath the debris is unknown, but some estimates suggest that as many as one hundred workers could be dead or fighting for their lives as of this writing.
Following the building’s sudden collapse, the authorities appeared to take their time before launching a rescue operation, prompting angry locals to gather at the scene and voice their frustration over the leaders’ slow pace of action.
“Me and my brother, we escaped, but more people are there, more than 100 people,” one of the workers, 41-year-old Eric Tetteh, revealed.
Another witness, 26-year-old Peter Ajagbe, claimed he had seen 10 bodies after climbing on top of the wreckage.
“Like 40 people were inside, I see 10 bodies because I climbed up. One of my partners is dead,” he said.
One of the workers, Latif Shittu, added: “I feel so bad because the people that are inside they have family.”
When deputy governor of Lagos, Obafemi Hamzat, finally arrived at the scene of the accident, angry locals and workers voiced their frustration over his slow handling of the crisis.
“For the past two hours since it collapsed nobody came here,” one angry witness yelled.
Meanwhile, Lagos State emergency management agency manager Femi Oke-Osanyintolu confirmed that rescue efforts are underway.
“It is a 25-storey building still under construction. Many workers are trapped under the rubble. We are trying to rescue them,” he said.
“We cannot say at this moment how many are dead. The rescue operation is ongoing.”
As of this writing, it is not clear what caused the collapse of the building.
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