A video from a car, which stopped on a crossing nearby, caught the building falling apart, with the debris raising clouds of dust after hitting the pavement and people running for their lives.

Another was made by a passenger on a tram, which was nearly caught in the incident. It showed cars being almost buried by the rubble and thick white dust in the air.

One person was killed, while three others are still missing as a result of the collapse, local authorities said. Eighteen more people were taken to hospital and remain in stable condition. All those affected were construction workers, with no victims reported among the pedestrians.

The Hard Rock Hotel was planned as an 18-story building with 350 rooms for guests and a large swimming pool. The project had been dragging on for a whole decade as it was marred by controversies over its height being above the limits and the imprisonment of the construction company’s boss on fraud charges.