Two people were feared killed and 50 others were trapped when a multi-storey commercial building under construction collapsed in Dharwad in Karnataka on Tuesday, police said.

Five persons extricated from the debris told rescuers that at least two people had been killed in the tragedy that occurred close to 4 p.m. and that some 50 others were still under tonnes of cement and mortar, Dharwad Superintendent of Police L.K. Talwar said.

The reason for the accident was not immediately known.

Karnataka Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy said he had told the Chief Secretary to send expert rescuers to Dharwad by a special flight.

He said rescue operations were on and that five people had been extricated from the debris. "I have instructed the concerned officials to be on location."

--IANS

bha/mr/pg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)