Twenty confirmed dead in Lagos school collapse

Twenty people, most of them children, died last week when a four-storey building containing a school collapsed in Lagos, Nigeria, reports AFP.  

A rescue operation saw 45 people brought alive from the wreckage, reports Reuters.

According to AFP, officials have said the residential building had been marked for demolition and that the school was operating illegally on the top two floors.

Some locals told Reuters they thought the death toll was higher than 20.

The collapse occurred on Wednesday, 13 March and the search ended on Thursday.

On Friday officials sent demolition crews to knock down around 100 condemned buildings in the area, leaving residents homeless, reports The New York Times.

Image: Rescue operation underway at collapse site in Lagos, Nigeria 13 March (Lagos State Government via Twitter)

See also:

• Nigerian architects, contractors call for registration amid "incessant" building collapses
• Floors collapse in Russian university building