BEIRUT: A five-story apartment building collapsed in the Ashrafieh district of Beirut Sunday, trapping an unknown number of people under the rubble.Rescue workers worked into the night digging through debris to try and find those still alive beneath a mound of concrete shards and twisted metal. Officials at the site of the collapse said voices could still be heard from below.

Red Cross officials announced Sunday night that one person had been pronounced dead while 10 people were pulled alive from the building. It is likely that amount could climb as the number of people trapped is still unknown. The building includes 10 apartments.

Ashrafieh resident Nicolas Abou rjeily told The Daily Star he had heard the building collapse from a block away around 6 p.m. “I heard a loud sound,” He said, adding that he ran to see a large cloud of dust, debris and bloodied people being pulled out of the building.

Distraught and weeping people surrounded the collapsed building, hoping to see signs of friends and family.

Rescue workers pulled a number of injured out of the rubble throughout the night, carrying them down from the debris on stretchers into waiting ambulances. Emergency medics milled outside local hospitals, with rescues growing less frequent as the night wore on.

Most of the streets near the site of the collapse were closed as Civil Defense personnel, the Red Cross and the Army arrived to help rescue residents.

There is no indication of what caused the collapse, but residents could have had some warning, as the building may have shaken before it collapsed.

The sons of Tanios Farhat, a 70-year-old man who lived on the ground floor of the building, were said to have rushed to try and save their father when the building started to shake, a security source told The Daily Star.

The three sons were said to have been trapped in the building when it collapsed and the voices of two of them could still be heard, the source said.During the night emergency crews asked people to remain quiet in order to hear those calling for help from beneath the rubble.

Debris from the collapsed building also slid into the foundations of adjacent buildings, prompting Army officials at the scene to ask people in the area to evacuate because of concerns that other buildings might collapse.

President Michel Sleiman and Interior Minister Marwan Charbel arrived at the scene to assist in the evacuation process.

“There is more help coming to the area to assist in the evacuation process and rescue people still trapped under the rubble,” Charbel said.

Ann-Marie Abdel Karim, 15, was pronounced dead upon arrival at the Saint George Hospital in Ashrafieh. Among the 10 rescued, two women, a Filipino and a Lebanese, were transported to nearby hospitals.

Health Minister Ali Hasan Khalil, and a number of MP, including Beirut lawmaker Jean Oghassapian, arrived at the scene and expressed their regrets about the collapse. Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri also expressed his regrets for the people who died or were injured in the collapse of the building.

Lebanese Red Cross spokesperson Ayad Monzer said that no clear information was available regarding the number of people trapped under the rubble.