Four killed as building collapses in Lagos

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Lagos - A four-storey building collapsed in Nigeria's commercial capital Lagos on Monday, killing at least four construction workers, the Red Cross said, and leaving around 50 workers trapped inside the rubble, according to witnesses.  

The incident happened on a construction site in a street on the prestigious Victoria Island, in a lagoon set back from the Atlantic, home to some of Africa's most expensive real estate.  

"We heard a sound from the third floor of the building and we ran for our dear lives. People are trapped there and there are some brought out injured and some dead," worker Mohammed Kazeem told Reuters TV, saying that more than 50 of his colleagues were inside the building when it went down.  

Red Cross official Segun Akande said four bodies had been pulled from the wreckage so far and seven people had been rescued, three of whom were critically injured.  

Building disasters are common in Nigeria, where a lack of enforcement of regulation often leads to hastily erected, unsafe structures. - Reuters

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