Five people have died after a school building site collapsed in Belgium.

The victims – who were all construction workers – were killed when part of the building fell suddenly in the city of Antwerp on Friday.

Rescue workers pulled the last two bodies out of the rubble on Saturday.

The combined pre-school and primary school building was still under construction and was expected to be ready for the new term in September, according to The Brussels Times.

Engineers are still trying to work out the cause of the collapse and a specialist investigator from the Antwerp prosecutor’s office has been assigned to the case, the news website said.

Drones and sniffer dogs were reportedly used to cover the area to look for signs of life.

Antwerp mayor Bart De Wever said: “It’s unbelievable that this can happen to a building that is nearing completion.

“Children should already be here in September. The city engineer is not optimistic about the building, which means we may have to tear it down.”

The victims reportedly included three Portuguese nationals, one Romanian and one Russian.

Mr De Wever added: “The tears do not fall only in our country. The ambassadors from the countries of the victims are here, those communities living in our city.”

King Philippe of Belgium visited the site on Saturday and spoke with police, firefighters and paramedics, accompanied by the country’s prime minister Alexander De Croo.

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