ABUJA, 02 November 2021, (TON): Witnesses said “up to 100 people were missing after a luxury residential highrise under construction in Nigeria's commercial capital Lagos collapsed, trapping construction workers under a pile of concrete rubble.”

A body was retrieved and at least three survivors were pulled out on Monday night as rescue workers raced against the clock to dig up victims at the site in the affluent neighbourhood of Ikoyi, where many blocks of flats are under construction.

Workers told media that possibly 100 people were at work when the building came crashing down.

Rescue workers used excavators to dig through rubble using generator-powered flood lights. The retrieved body was put in a waiting van while at least three people who were rescued were taken to nearby ambulances.

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 building once stood, as several workers looked on. One man wailed, saying his relative was among those trapped.

The Lagos state government said the building had 22 floors and authorities were assessing whether there had been any damage to nearby buildings.