Apartment building collapses in Italy; some may be trapped

An apartment building near Naples has collapsed. Six or seven people are believed to be buried in the rubble. Photo / Twitter

Rescuers are digging by hand to find trapped residents after a five-storey apartment building collapsed near the southern Italian city of Naples.

Firefighters said in a tweet up to eight people may be buried in the rubble in the seaside town of Torre Annunziata, about four kilometres from the Pompeii archaeological site.

About 30 rescue workers were removing rubble by hand, passing it out in buckets, as firefighters on long, retractable ladders checked the stability of the section that remained intact.

#TorreAnnunziata, tra i dispersi sotto le macerie della palazzina crollata anche dei bambini.→ https://t.co/oh6JxRqc7D pic.twitter.com/veuv0PVGLF

— Rainews (@RaiNews) July 7, 2017

At one point, the digging was paused while a sniffer dog checked the scene.

News agency ANSA quoted witnesses as saying that there was no explosion before the collapse sometime after 6am but that a train had just passed by on adjacent train tracks.

News reports indicated that reconstruction work was being carried out on the building before the collapse.

The train line that passes Mount Vesuvius and connects Naples with such tourist sites as Pompeii and the Amalfi coast has been closed.

- AAP