Building Collapse Kills 8 in South Africa

Eight South African workers died Monday when a building under construction collapsed, and more people were feared trapped under the rubble, emergency workers said.

The laborers were working on a double-storey residential building on a private estate in Meyersdal south of Johannesburg when it collapsed.

"Initially there were five dead bodies recovered from the rubble, the number has now increased to eight," said William Ntladi, the spokesman for the Ekurhuleni Emergency Services.

Nearly ten other workers were taken to hospital, two with serious injuries.

Ntladi said the cause of the accident was not yet known.

"Rescue workers are still busy on site removing concrete rubble, trying to find more people," he said, adding that it was unclear how many people might have been working on the construction site.

The labor department said it had sent out inspectors to investigate the accident.

"The department has dispatched a team of inspectors to investigate after which they will issue a preliminary report on the cause of the accident," a statement said.