(Reuters) -A ten-story hotel building collapsed early on Tuesday in the coastal city of Villa Gesell in Argentina’s Buenos Aires province, the local municipality said in a statement.

Between seven and nine people, including workers from a construction site allegedly operating without municipal permits at the Dubrovnik hotel, were believed to be inside at the time, the statement said.

Rescue teams are currently removing the debris to free those trapped, the Villa Gesell authorities noted, adding that the municipality had halted construction work at the site in August of this year.

(Reporting by Natalia Siniawski; Editing by Gabriel Araujo)