Officials in Angeles City, around 80km north of the Philippine capital, said they had received a report at about 3am that an unfinished nine-storey concrete building had given way.

City information officer Jay Pelayo told AFP that the building’s walls and scaffolding had buckled, likely trapping people in a pile of debris.

While there were no initial reports of casualties, “there are 19 personnel that usually report in the area, so they are the ones we are trying to locate now,” Pelayo said.

“There are big chunks of concrete, and we need equipment to lift them up. That is what’s challenging for the rescue right now.”

Initial reports suggested 24 people had been rescued from the rubble as well as two from an apartment-style hotel that was hit when the building came down, the city government said.

“We hope the 19 people are part of that number” and therefore accounted for, Pelayo said.

Interviews to determine the survivors’ identities were ongoing, Pelayo added.

Those rescued were in a “stable condition”, he said.

The cause of the collapse is not yet known.