At least five killed in Senegal building collapse

DAKAR (Reuters) – At least five people were killed and eight injured when a building collapsed in Senegal’s capital Dakar, a government official has said.

It was not immediately clear what caused the building to collapse, or how many people were inside when the disaster happened on Wednesday morning in the Dakar suburb of Rufisque.

An official from the interior ministry at the scene, Birame Faye, said on Wednesday firefighters pulled five lifeless bodies from the rubble. Eight survivors were taken to hospital.

Faye said investigations were underway to determine the cause of the collapse.

Residents said it could have been linked to construction in an adjacent building.

Senegal’s booming construction industry is poorly regulated and safety protocols are often ignored.

(Reporting by Ngouda Dione; Editing by Sofia Christensen, Hereward Holland and Devika Syamnath)