A small hotel collapsed in Istanbul today, burying as many as 50 people in the rubble, witnesses said.
Police in the Aksaray district said at least 16 people were injured when the three-story building collapsed. It was not immediately clear if anyone had been killed.
"We pulled out 10 people so far. We believe there are as many as 40 people still under there," a rescue worker at the scene told reporters. The 10 were alive.
The rescue worker said some of the hotel's guests were Romanian nationals.
"I was asleep and suddenly there was a large noise. Then the building collapsed," said Mr Kadir Kepek, a guest who was slightly injured.
A subway line was being built beneath the hotel, private television news station NTV said.
Several buildings next to the hotel were also damaged and authorities feared they could also collapse, NTV said.