Death Toll Now 40 In Synagogue Building Collapse -- NEMA

Forty people have now died as a result of a building collapse at the
megachurch of one of Nigeria's most famous preachers and
televangelists, the country's main rescue body said on Sunday.

"It's now 40 dead," Ibrahim Farinloye, southwest coordinator of the
National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), told AFP by text message.

Some 124 people were rescued alive from the rubble of the building,
believed to be a guesthouse for foreign followers of TB Joshua's The
Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN), in the Ikotun area of Lagos.

The two-storey building, located in the sprawling compound of the vast
church complex, came down on Friday afternoon. It was undergoing
construction work to add extra floors.

TB Joshua, dubbed "The Prophet", has an almost fanatical following
among Nigerians and across the world, attracted by his purported
healing powers and prophecies.
Joshua preaches to massive crowds at his megachurch in Ikotun every
week and, according to his website, SCOAN "hosts thousands of national
and international visitors" each year.

"People travel from around the world to witness and receive from the
mighty work that God is doing in the life of Prophet TB Joshua," it
states.

Emergency services and the media were attacked as they tried to get to
the building. Rescue operations were continuing on Sunday, Farinloye
said.

Joshua said on his Facebook page TB Joshua Ministries that reports
that the church auditorium had collapsed and that there had been heavy
casualties were not correct.

"The few people that were there are being rescued," he said on Friday.

Joshua was widely quoted in Nigeria's media on Sunday as saying that a
low-flying plane that had been repeatedly circling the building may
have been responsible for the collapse.

Ikotun lies to the west of Lagos' international airport.