Nigerian rescue workers were racing against time Wednesday to pull survivors from the rubble of a residential tower which collapsed killing at least 20 people and burying dozens alive. Witnesses said the four-storey building collapsed with a "bang" just as residents were coming home from work on Tuesday night in Lagos, Nigeria's commercial city.
An AFP reporter who visited the scene early on Wednesday heard wails and cries from people imprisoned under the debris. "Please help me, I am dying," one victim cried out. A man who simply gave his name as David told AFP his wife and three children were still trapped under the building.
The Red Cross said 20 bodies have been recovered while 50 injured people were pulled out of the rubble. "More corpses have been recovered. We now have 20 dead and 50 survivors. Most of the injured have been discharged from the hospital," Red Cross spokeswoman Umo Okon told AFP.
Earlier, the humanitarian agency had said 11 were killed while 40 were rescued when the tower collapsed, burying dozens of people. Red Cross disaster officer Umar Mairiga told AFP the figure might change as rescuers were still battling to save people trapped under the debris. "This is an ongoing rescue operation. The figure will continue to change as the hours go by," he said.
Mairiga said more than 100 people were believed to have been "either inside or around the vicinity" of the building when it collapsed. It contained 36 flats, a penthouse and some shops. "There is no doubt that people are still buried under the belly of the earth. That is why we have to step up efforts to save them," he said.
Witnesses said a group of people were seen drinking at a liqour shop in front of the building when it caved in.