Nigeria Building Collapse: Rescue official: 8 dead, 37 rescued in Lagos

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02:28

Another tragic news from Nigeria. Rescuers are racing against the clock in the city of Lagos. That's where a building collapsed on Wednesday, trapping dozens of children and adults. Nearly 40 people have been pulled from the rubble alive, with at least 8 bodies recovered. CGTN's Deji Badmus brings us the latest from the scene.

This is one of the survivors. She was pulled out of the rubble by first responders helping with the rescue operation. But others were not as lucky. They were brought out in body bags. Large crowds have hindered the rescue operation.

DEJI BADMUS LAGOS, NIGERIA "It's a very difficult rescue operation that is going on here, difficult in the sense that accessing the area where this incident is a very huge challenge. Right behind me over there you can see the heavy-duty equipment that was brought in. It came in not quite long ago to help in the rescue operation but it's not been able to access the site."

OLAKUNLE LASISI OFFICIAL, NIGERIA RED CROSS "What we can get is just an estimate because from our own end, we got information that about eight people were moved out confirmed dead already and we have thirty-seven taken alive to the hospital."

The numbers are likely to go up as the rescuers dig and cut through the rubble. It's not known how many persons were in the four-story building when it came down. Lagos officials said the building had been listed for demolition. This young man whose family owns the building says some of the school students were not around when the incident happened.

ERINOLUWA AKINMOLADUN RELATIVE OF BUILDING OWNER "Some of them went for excursion, so I can't say the total number, but let me say their total number should be like minimum of sixty to eighty. But I can't say how many were left inside when others went out."

Most of the victims were taken to the area's main hospital. Those with more serious conditions were transferred to other facilities for special treatment.

JIDE IDRIS LAGOS STATE COMMISSIONER OF HEALTH "We will try our best as a government to deal with the casualties. The ones we can save we will save."

As darkness falls over the site, the rescuers are still hard at work hoping to find more survivors under the rubble. DB,CGTN,L,N.