At Least Three Dead After Luxury High-Rise Collapses In Nigeria

Carlie Porterfield
Forbes Staff
Updated Nov 1, 2021, 04:43pm EDT

TOPLINE

Three people have died in the sudden collapse of a 21-story luxury building under construction in Lagos, Nigeria, while first responders continue to work to rescue people trapped inside

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People stand to look at the rubble of a building under construction that collapsed in the Ikoyi 

 [+] AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

KEY FACTS

Police confirmed that at least three people have died in the collapse and many more are still trapped, according to the BBC.

Employees at the site said as many as 100 construction workers were working on the building at the time of its collapse, according to Reuters.

The building, one of many high-rises being built in Lagos’ well-heeled Ikoyi neighborhood, suddenly fell in on itself Monday afternoon amid construction, according to local media.

The exact number of deaths, people trapped and the cause of the collapse is still unclear.

Photos and videos posted to social media show people passing by jumping in to help rescue survivors from the rubble.

KEY BACKGROUND

Building collapses are relatively common in Nigeria. A whopping 43 buildings in Nigeria fell in 2019 alone, according to a study from the Building Collapse Prevention Guild, a Nigerian group. In 2016, at least 160 people died after a church collapsed in Uyo, a city located near Nigeria’s southeast border. In 2014, the collapse of a guesthouse located on the grounds of a Christian megachurch in Lagos State killed at least 115 people.

Several workers trapped under collapsed highrise in Nigeria: Witnesses

Reuters
Nneka Chile
Publishing date:Nov 01, 2021 • 

People walk to rescue workers from the rubble of a 21-storey building under construction that collapsed at Ikoyi district of Lagos, on Nov. 1, 2021. 

PHOTO BY PIUS UTOMI EKPEI /AFP via Getty Images

LAGOS — A luxury residential highrise under construction in Nigeria’s commercial capital Lagos collapsed on Monday, trapping several workers under a pile of concrete rubble, witnesses said.

Two workers at the site in the affluent neighbourhood of Ikoyi, where many blocks of flats are under construction, told Reuters that possibly 100 people were at work when the building came crashing down.

Building collapses are frequent in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, where regulations are poorly enforced and construction materials often substandard.

There were heaps of rubble and twisted metal where the 20-story building once stood, as several workers looked on. One man wailed, saying his relative was among those trapped.

It was not immediately clear what caused the collapse.

The building was part of three towers being built by private developer Fourscore Homes. In a brochure for potential clients, the company promises to offer “a stress-free lifestyle, complete with a hotel flair.” The cheapest unit was selling for $1.2 million.

Calls to the numbers listed for Fourscore Homes and the main building contractor did not ring through.

The Lagos State Emergency Management Agency said it had activated its emergency response plan. “All first responders are at the scene while heavy duty equipment and life detection equipment have been dispatched,” the agency said in a statement.