Lagos: The death toll from the fall of a 21-story building in Lagos, Nigeria's economic capital, has risen to 20, according to an emergency management official, as more bodies have been recovered and dozens more people remain unaccounted for.

Following the collapse of a 21-story building under construction in the Ikoyi area of Lagos city on Monday afternoon, Ibrahim Farinloye, the Coordinator of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in Lagos state, said in an update statement on Tuesday evening that 20 bodies had been recovered and nine people had been rescued alive. Farinloye noted that rescue attempts were still underway and that an investigation into the reason of the collapse was ongoing.

Residents in the region reported the building had been under construction for almost a year and that more than 50 people, mostly construction workers, were trapped beneath the rubble. In a statement released earlier on Tuesday, Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu promised a thorough inquiry into the catastrophic building collapse, adding that the state administration is forming an impartial panel to investigate the cause of the collapse. Members of the panel would be recruited from professional organisations in the building industry, such as the Nigerian Institute of Architects, the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners, and the Nigeria Society of Engineers, according to Sanwo-Olu.

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