At least one person died when a Dubrovnik hotel, an apartment hotel undergoing unauthorized renovations, collapsed in the middle of the night.

Rescue officials said nine people were still missing.

Local authorities said some of the missing persons were working in the area.

“The hotel exploded, fell on itself and bent the last three floors, crushing 25 percent of the building next door,” said Javier Alonso, security minister of Buenos Aires province, where Villa Gesell is located. he said.

He said neighbors “heard a creaking and vibration-like sound in the ground, and a few minutes later it collapsed.”

He warned that the rescue process would be “slow” given the amount of debris, but emphasized that survivors are sometimes found buried under rubble for up to a week after such collapses.

The body of a man in his 80s was found under the rubble.

Fire department operations chief Hugo Piriz said seven to nine people were believed to be still trapped.

“It was as if a missile had fallen and split the building in half,” a neighbor told TN television channel.

A 79-year-old woman living next door was rescued injured when she was heard hitting the pipe.

“We approached the noise and managed to hear it. It was a difficult job, it took several hours,” Piriz told reporters.

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

The hotel was built in 1986.

The municipality of Villa Gesell said that work at the facility was carried out “secretly, without complying with municipal regulations” and that the work was stopped by authorities in August.

The foreman and three masons were detained for questioning.

Relatives of the victims gathered near the building to hear from their loved ones as the bulldozer removed the debris.

“Time is passing and I want my son to be alive. I want my son to be alive and I want him whole,” said Silvana Perhauc, the mother of one of the missing persons.

READ ALSO