9 people died in the collapse of a building in Lagos, Nigeria Construction News

Twenty-seven people were rescued with various injuries; The governor orders a security check in the surrounding areas.

At least nine people were killed when a three-storey building collapsed in Lagos on Thursday, Nigerian officials said.

Another 27 were rescued with various injuries, the state commissioner said on Friday.

The cause is still unknown.

Housing collapse is common in Nigeria’s financial capital, where rapid urbanization, unsustainable construction materials and poor law enforcement have become a threat to residents.

The recent collapse prompted an emergency response from several agencies.

Rescue teams from the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service worked day and night to collect the debris of the survivors.

By Friday morning, LASEMA confirmed that rescue operations had been completed. Nine bodies were found, including four adults who were found dead before emergency responders arrived and five more – among them a two-year-old girl.

The house was located in Alakija area near the busy Lagos-Badagry Expressway in Satellite Town.

A densely populated and commercial area in the south-west of Lagos where there are old houses and small businesses that do a lot of work.

At the time of the collapse, the building was occupied by residents and office workers, officials said. It housed several tenants as well as an internet cafe, a photography studio and a mobile phone store.

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has directed the Lagos State Building Control Agency to review the integrity of neighboring buildings and enforce building regulations in the area, LASEMA reported.