At least three people have died and dozens more are believed to be trapped under rubble after a building under construction in South Africa collapsed.

Officials in the city of George, on the country’s southern coast, say 51 people are still trapped while 24 have been taken to hospital after the disaster on Monday afternoon, local time.

Western Cape premier Alan Winde said: “Seventy-five members of construction crew have been confirmed on site at that time of the incident.”

CCTV footage obtained by Reuters showed a cloud of dust as the building crumbled at a little after 2pm, according to the time stamp on the video.

Pictures from a drone camera showed a completely flattened construction site, with parts of the building’s roof lying on top of the rubble.

Police and rescue teams using sniffer dogs are searching the rubble, the provincial government said.

George’s mayor Leon van Wyk told SABC that rescue equipment was on its way.

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“This is going to be a really lengthy exercise and probably going to go right through the night,” he said on Monday evening.

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Theresa Jeyi, a local councillor, told reporters at the scene: “I saw one guy was working and then ‘boom’ and I saw the whole building collapsed… I’m also traumatised. It is very sad.”

The cause of the incident in the coastal city, around 280 miles (450km) east of Cape Town, is being investigated.

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