Toll reaches 44 in Nigeria building collapse

Nigeria's National Emergency Management Agency Sunday said that 44 bodies were recovered, while 130 people trapped in a collapsed church building were rescued in the country's commercial city of Lagos.

Spokesperson for the rescue agency Ibrahim Farinloye said in a statement that the number of dead people has risen to 44, Xinhua reported.

The popular Lagos-based Synagogue Church Guest House building at Ikotun downtown area of Lagos collapsed Friday.

Pastor in charge of the church, Temitope Joshua, attributed the cause of the collapse to a mysterious helicopter flying repeatedly over the building.

The pastor showed a three-minute video clip to journalists in Lagos Saturday, claiming the helicopter might have been responsible for the collapse of the six-storey guest house.

Many worshipers injured were rushed to Isolo and Alimosho General Hospital, while corpses were deposited at the mortuary.

There is possibility that some people could still be trapped in the collapsed building, as rescue effort was still on.

Building collapses are not rare in Nigeria, often because of poor construction practices. More than 50 people were killed in building collapses across Nigeria last year.