One dead and several still trapped after 10-storey hotel collapses in Argentina: Major search operation continues as rescuers continue scouring rubble for survivors

One person has died and several remain trapped in debris after a ten-storey hotel collapsed in Argentina.

The Dubrovnik hotel building collapsed earlier today in the coastal city of Villa Gesell in the province of Buenos Aires, the local municipality said in a statement. 

Firefighters searching for survivors rescued a woman who was alive from the rubble of the hotel, while an estimated nine people remain trapped. 

An investigation has been launched to determine the cause of the collapse, but Villa Gesell's municipality said the hotel was undergoing a renovation without the proper permits.

Javier Alonso, security minister for the Buenos Aires province said: 'The hotel imploded, it fell on itself and the last three floors tilted and crushed 25 percent of the building that was next door.'

Mr Alonso said neighbors heard something 'like a creaking and a vibration in the floor and a few minutes later it collapsed.'

He warned that the rescue process would be 'slow' given the amount of debris but stressed that survivors were sometimes found under rubble up to a week after such collapses.

Mr Alonso told journalists that an 80-year-old man died in the collapse and a woman was taken alive from the debris.

He added that between seven and nine people, presumably masons working on the hotel's restoration, remain trapped.

Rescue teams began removing the rubble by hand while waiting for a crane and some engineers to evaluate the area.

'It was like a missile fell and split the building in two,' a neighbor told the TN television channel.

A 79-year-old woman from the building next door was rescued alive with injuries after she was heard knocking on a pipe.

'We got closer to the noise and managed to hear the voice. It was hard work, it took several hours,' Piriz told reporters.

More than 300 rescuers, using drones, sniffer dogs and probes with cameras and microphones, were searching for other survivors.

Villa Gesell municipality said that work was being carried out at the hotel 'clandestinely' and that it had already been halted by the authorities in August.

The foreman and three bricklayers were detained for questioning.

Relatives of the victims gathered near the building to await news of their loved ones as a bulldozer removed debris.

'Time is going by and I want my son alive. I want my son alive and I want him whole,' Silvana Perhauc, the mother of one of the missing people, said. 

Dramatic aerial pictures show a pile of rubble where the building stood amongst other high rise blocks.

The complex is located near the centre of the seaside town and a stone's throw from its beach.

Hugo Piriz, the town's Fire Chief, said they were searching for 'between 7 and 9 people' in the rubble.

'Work is underway to rescue a woman who says there is another person next to her,' he said in an interview with news channel TN.

'At this time, although it is not possible to speak with any exact details about the collapse, it can be confirmed that the structure in the collapsed part [the rear part] would have been modified illegally and irregularly,' the local council said.

'The municipality of Villa Gesell requests that residents and the media be cautious with any information they may circulate,' the statement went on.

'These are key moments in which work is being done to prevent the loss of human lives.'