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Twenty four people are now known to have died in the collapse of a four-storey residential building in the Nigerian commercial capital, Lagos, the Nigeria Red Cross has said.

"Three bodies were pulled out today, while one injured person died in the hospital last night," Red Cross disaster officer Umar Maigira told AFP Thursday.

The Red Cross had earlier confirmed 20 people dead after the building caved in on Tuesday evening.

Local media on Wednesday quoted an unidentified Red Cross official as saying that 43 bodies had been recovered from the site in the Ebute-Metta district of Lagos but Maigira said he could not confirm this toll.

Maigira said rescue workers were back "in full force to dig in for more bodies and probably survivors" from the ruins of the building, where the chances of anyone surviving were receding by the hour.

"We now have the wherewithal to work with. (German construction firm) Julius Berger, which moved its equipment away last night, is back with its caterpillar and cranes. We shall leave no stone unturned to see that we complete the operation today," he assured.

Earlier he had said rain and a lack of specialised equipment were hampering the rescue effort and preventing workers from reaching people "whether dead or alive".

He said the foul smell of decomposing bodies was beginning to ooze from the rubble.

Authorities have launched an investigation into the cause of the tragedy, the latest in a string of building disasters in Africa's most populous country in recent months, especially in overcrowded Lagos.

Building experts have blamed the collapses on the use of substandard construction materials, disregard for building regulations and non-compliance with development policies.

Lagos State Governor Bola Tinubu, who visited the scene of the disaster on Wednesday, ordered the immediate arrest and prosecution of those responsible for the construction of the building.

"We shall prosecute the developers. We know their other buildings and definitely they will not go unpunished," he said.

(Chinadaily.com via agencies July 21, 2006)