At least 40 people trapped in South African mall collapse

Durban, South Africa: Two people have died and about 40 are feared trapped after a roof collapsed at the construction site of a South African shopping mall, paramedics say.

Rescue teams are working in the dark to find those beneath the rubble at the site in Tongaat, north of Durban.

Crisis Medical, an emergency service provider in Durban, told BBC Focus on Africa that about 30 people had been taken to hospitals in the area.

Officials said those trapped were construction workers.

"It was a mall building still under construction; most of those still trapped inside the building were construction workers," police spokeswoman Mandy Govender told the AFP news agency.

"Rescue operations are becoming extremely difficult in the dark," Neil Powell, operations director for Crisis Medical, told the BBC World Service radio programme Focus on Africa.

Chris Botha, from the private ambulance company Netcare 911, said it was too early to know the cause of the collapse.

"It is going to be a long operation. It will take time to get to everyone," he told the BBC.

The accident happened around 16:30 local time (14:30 GMT), he told the AFP news agency.

About 100 rescue workers are at the scene, where cranes are being used to break through the concrete blocks.

Tongaat is a small town about 40km (25 miles) north of Durban surrounded by sugar farms and has a large South African Asian population.

-BBC