Two-storey building collapses in Turkey's Malatya province

A two-storey building collapsed in eastern Turkey on Tuesday, injuring more than 10 people and leaving as many as 25 people trapped under the debris, officials said.

The incident occurred in the town of Battalgazi, in Malatya province, about 160 kilometres (100 miles) north of the Syrian border.

Battalgazi mayor Osman Güder told Habertürk television that more than 10 people had been taken to hospital and between 20 and 25 were believed to still be trapped inside.

A survivor told the official Anadolu news agency that a wall collapsed on him but he managed to get out with two friends. Semseddin Bozdemir said there were 15 to 20 people in the building when he entered.

Media reports later put the number of those rescued at 13, with two of the survivors suffering serious injuries.

Television images showed rescuers using construction diggers to remove large blocks of debris and trying to listen for signs of any survivors as the evening set in.

Witnesses said the building collapsed during planned repair work, trapping people in a coffee shop on the second floor.

"I heard a crack first and then the building collapsed. A cloud of dust emerged. It was like judgement day," witness Turhan Çobanoğlu told Haberturk.

The governor of Malatya province, Aydin Barus, said 15 people were thought to be in the two-story building at the time of the collapse but he could not give an exact number for those who remained trapped. He said rescue workers had heard from one person under the rubble and were trying to reach him or her.

The cause of the collapse was being investigated. Turkey's emergency agencies dispatched over 260 personnel to the site.