At least eight people, including an eight-month-old baby, have died and 26 others have been rescued after a three-storey building collapsed in the Alakija area of Lagos State on Thursday, emergency authorities have said.

The building, a shopping complex located on Old Ojo Road near Alakija Bus Stop in Satellite Town, collapsed around 11:40 a.m., trapping an unknown number of occupants beneath the rubble.

The Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) said emergency responders had recovered eight bodies and rescued 26 people from the debris as of 4:20 p.m. on Thursday.

The Permanent Secretary of LASEMA, Damilola Oke-Osanyintolu, stated that rescue efforts were continuing to locate and extricate any remaining victims.

Victims underground

“There are reports that additional persons, including shop owners who had resumed business activities in the complex, may still be trapped," Oke-Osanyintolu said in an update.

The collapse triggered panic in the busy commercial neighbourhood as residents, traders and passers-by gathered around the scene while emergency workers searched through the rubble for survivors.

Nigeria has recorded repeated cases of deadly building collapses, which authorities on poor building materials and lack of building maintanance.

In July 2024, at least 21 people, mostly children sitting for examinations were killed in the central Nigerian city of Jos.

Ten people were killed in 2022 when a three-storey building collapsed in the Ebute-Metta area of Lagos.