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A 3-story building collapsed in Nigeria which contained a private school and kindergarten. Locals fear that around 100 children are trapped under the rubble, with at least 8 dead.
As many as 100 children and many others were feared trapped Wednesday after a building containing a primary school collapsed in Nigeria's commercial capital of Lagos. Residents of the area said around 100 children attended the school, which was on the third floor of the building. Eight children have been reported as killed as reported by the BBC.
Ibrahim Farinloye, the spokesman for the National Emergency Management Agency’s southwest region, said there was no immediate information on any casualties, but later reporting say that 25 people have been rescued.
“It is believed that many people including children are currently trapped in the building,” he said.
“The third floor of the building is housing a private school in the area,” said Farinloye, adding that the three-story building came down at around 10 a.m. local time.
Workers on top of the rubble shoveled debris away as thousands of people swarmed around the rescue site — dozens watching from rooftops and hundreds more packed into the surrounding streets.
The building was in the Ita-faji area of Lagos Island, the original heart of the lagoon city before it expanded onto the mainland.
Nigeria is frequently hit by building collapses, with weak enforcement of regulations and poor construction materials often used. In 2016, more than 100 people were killed when a church came down in southeastern Nigeria.
In Lagos that same year, a five-story building still under construction collapsed, killing at least 30 people.
A floating school built to withstand storms and floods was also brought down in Lagos in 2016, though nobody was reported injured.