The collapse of a guesthouse at a megachurch complex in the Nigerian city of Lagos has killed at least 40 people.

The Associated Press reports at least 46 bodies have been pulled from the rubble of the building, reported to be a guesthouse on the campus of preacher TB Joshua's Synagogue Church of All Nations.

Joshua released CCTV footage to the media of the moment the building collapsed and suggested a plane had flown low around the building four times prior to its collapse last Friday.

According to the Associated Press, he told churchgoers at the Sunday service that the building may have been attacked by Islamic extremists.

Ibrahim Farinloye, spokesman for the National Emergency Management Agency, attributed the collapse to the addition of two more floors to the existing four-storey structure without adequate steps being taken to strengthen the foundations.

The BBC's correspondent in Lagos, Tomi Oladipo, said the collapse brings into question the standards of construction in the city.

"As land in Lagos is already expensive more and more people are putting up multistorey buildings," he said.

According to the BBC report, emergency workers claim they were hindered in their rescue efforts by church officials who prevented them from gaining access to the scene.

It is not known how many people were inside the building at the time of the collapse. All that remains of the building now is rubble.

The search for survivors was continuing on Tuesday.