One person has died and as many as 50 workers are feared trapped after the roof of an under-construction mall collapsed near the South African city of Durban.

One person has been confirmed dead and at least 26 people have been pulled from the rubble, Police spokeswoman Mandy Govender says.

“It was a mall building still under construction,” said Govender. “Most of those still trapped inside the building were construction workers.”

An eThekwini municipality fire official says emergency teams are working to prevent further collapses at the site.

“There is work in progress to try and stabilise the situation,” he said, refusing to give his name because he is not authorised to speak to the media.

Earlier the private emergency medical care firm ER24 said “as many as 50 people entrapped at Tongaat mall”.

Another private emergency firm, Netcare 911, said 29 people have been taken to hospital, and confirmed around 50 are still missing.

Netcare’s Chris Botha says the accident happened around 4.30pm local time.

Tongaat is around 40km north of the Indian Ocean city of Durban.