Scores of children are feared dead or trapped inside after a three-story school building collapsed during school hours in Lagos, Nigeria, prompting frantic rescue efforts.

Some children were rescued from the rubble by the first-responders, with hundreds of onlookers cheering the efforts as they stood in narrow streets and on rooftops of rusted, corrugated metal.

In this image taken from video rescue workers and emergency teams work at the scene of a building collapse in Lagos, Nigeria, Wednesday March 13, 2019. A three-story building has collapsed in Lagos, and rescuers rush to pull out scores of children thought to be inside. There was no immediate official word on numbers of casualties.

In this image taken from video rescue workers and emergency teams work at the scene of a building collapse in Lagos, Nigeria, Wednesday March 13, 2019. A three-story building has collapsed in Lagos, and rescuers rush to pull out scores of children thought to be inside. There was no immediate official word on numbers of casualties.
(AP)

Others volunteered in the rescue operations, jumping into the rubble with hacksaws and mallets in their hands.

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So far it remains unclear how many children exactly have died or are still trapped.

“For now we don’t have any word on casualties as we are still busy with rescue work,” said Sani Datti, a spokesman with Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency.

“It is believed that many people including children are currently trapped in the building,” another spokesperson for the agency told the BBC.

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Emergency services attend the scene after a school building collapsed in Lagos, Nigeria, Wednesday March 13, 2019. Rescue efforts are underway in Nigeria after a three-storey school building collapsed while classes were in session, with some scores of children thought to be inside at the time.

Emergency services attend the scene after a school building collapsed in Lagos, Nigeria, Wednesday March 13, 2019. Rescue efforts are underway in Nigeria after a three-storey school building collapsed while classes were in session, with some scores of children thought to be inside at the time.
(AP)

The school was on the top floor of the building in Ita Faji on Lagos Island, Nigeria’s commercial capital and a city of some 20 million people.

Nigeria has been suffering from frequent building collapses due to lack of building regulations that would ensure the safety of the buildings.

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Over 100 people died in 2016 after a church roof collapsed in south of Nigeria.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.