At least eight people are dead and dozens others trapped in rubbles, after a school in Nigeria collapsed on Wednesday.

Reports say many as one hundred students could have been inside the school, when the three story building collapsed in Lagos Nigeria.

The incident took place near Itafaji market on Lagos island at around 10am, and while waiting for official rescue efforts, many locals and passersby are reported to had begun their attempts, to free students from the debris using their bare hands.

In those attempts one boy was freed alive, and he was doused with water to help revive him.

Building collapses are common in Nigeria, where building regulations are often not enforced.

In the past three years over one-hundred and fifty buildings collapsed, and the most catastrophic was in 2016, when the roof of a church building curved inside killing over one-hundred people.