Lagos governor on rescue in collapsed building

Emergency teams in the Nigerian city of Lagos on Tuesday continued looking for survivors amid the rubble of a 21-storey building that had collapsed.

Lagos State deputy governor Femi Hamzat told journalists that the collapse on Monday occurred while construction was being carried out at the site.

Nine people have been pulled out alive, Hamzat said, but relatives were angry at what they called the slow pace of the rescue effort that rook hours to begin.

Hamzat said "the information is fluid", and that it is difficult knowing how many people might still be trapped as it was not a residential building.

Excavators were seen moving through a mountain of broken concrete and steel looking for dozens still missing after the collapse killed at least 14 people.

Workers have said the high-rise apartment building had been under construction for about two years, and it was not immediately known what had caused the collapse.

Officials said the property's developers had added six more floors than what was originally approved under their building permit in the city of Lagos, fuelling speculation that the additional weight could have contributed to the collapse.

The government-run News Agency of Nigeria reported that the building's owner had been arrested on undisclosed charges.

However, such incidents are relatively common in Lagos because enforcement of building code regulations is weak.

Officials arriving at the scene were confronted by crowds of people venting their anger that rescue efforts started several hours after the collapse.

Distressed relatives whose loved ones were missing sat together by the road consoling one another.

Others at the scene shouted in anger, saying the rescue operation was too slow and that they should be allowed to join the effort.

It took about three hours before the first excavator arrived at the scene Monday afternoon.