ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast, July 2, 2023 (BSS/AFP) - A building under construction collapsed in an upscale neighbourhood of Ivory Coast's economic hub Abidjan, killing six people and injuring nine others, the government said Saturday.

The building was an illegal construction coming up in Cocody, home to several embassies and the presidential palace, the construction ministry said.

It collapsed on Friday. The search for victims under rubble took several hours, said an AFP photographer at the scene.

Abidjan is undergoing a demographic and economic boom and several illegal buildings are mushrooming in the Atlantic Ocean port city, a major gateway to West Africa.

Government spokesman Amadou Coulibaly had in March warned that such incidents would continue as long as builders flouted rules. Thirteen people died in February and March in two building collapses.