ABUJA, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Rescue workers completed their operation on Wednesday afternoon on a 4-story building which suddenly collapsed on Nigeria's Lagos Island on Tuesday, killing eight people.
Some 15 people, including an 11-year-old boy, were rescued.
Ibrahim Farinloye, a spokesman for the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in Nigeria's southwest region, told Xinhua that the 11-year-old boy had his legs already chopped off when he was pulled out of the debris.
The lad was rescued early Wednesday, more than 12 hours after the building collapsed near the Lagos lagoon.
The rescue team, which comprised of NEMA, local security agencies and the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), completed the operation on the site after reaching the ground zero at about 1:30 p.m local time.
The team of rescuers worked all through Tuesday night to rescue trapped people. Heavy duty equipment was deployed to search through the rubbles.
An integrity test is expected to be carried out on other buildings in the area to prevent recurrence of the incident, local authorities said.
Farinloye told reporters "the collapsed building was initially a bungalow before it was converted to a four-story with a penthouse."
The six-foot in-between building which was a normal requirement in building construction was not observed in the area, he said.
According to the official, the building adjacent the ill-fated one was also under threat of collapse.
In view of the high volume of rainfall in Nigeria this year, more buildings might suffer a similar fate, he noted.
An investigation into the cause of the building collapse has commenced, local authorities said.
Adesina Tiamiyu, head of LASEMA told reporters that "erection of a telecommunication mast very close to the building contributed to the collapse."
Cases of collapsed building often occur in Lagos, Nigeria's economic hub, as some property owners and developers do not adhere strictly to planning and building laws and regulations.
In most cases, heavy loads are placed on the building and substandard materials are seen to have been used for the construction work.
Just last Saturday, a woman and her daughter died when a building collapsed in a Lagos suburb.
Another five-year-old girl was rescued from the same incident, last Saturday.
