Death toll at 38 in Nigeria building collapse

The death toll rose to 38 from a building collapse in Nigeria’s commercial hub of Lagos, an official said Friday.

"So far now, we have recorded 38 dead bodies. We have nine survivors," Commissioner for Information and Strategy Gbenga Omotoso said at a news conference.

He said corpses will be available for identification at a public morgue late Friday.

“We are going to be conducting DNA tests for bodies that may be very difficult to identify," he said.

Omotoso also said 32 people are missing.

Thirty-six bodies were pulled from the rubble, according to an official with the National Emergency Management Agency.

Two more bodies were discovered sometime between late Thursday and Friday.

Residents said more than 50 people work at the 21-story under-construction building in Ikoyi, an affluent neighborhood in Lagos.