A six-storey building in Gujarat's Surat collapsed on Saturday due to heavy rainfall in the state. As per the latest update shared by officials, at least seven dead bodies have been recovered from the site.

The building in Surat's Sachin Pali village, which had a total of 30 apartments, collapsed on Saturday afternoon. Five families who were in the building at the time of collapse are feared trapped or assumed dead.

Speaking to news agency ANI, Surat's Chief Fire Officer Basant Pareek stated that the search operation continued throughout the night and a total of seven dead bodies were recovered.

As per officials, five of the bodies recovered are of men

By Saturday evening, three bodies had been recovered from the site of the collapse. Teams from the National Disaster Response Force and State Disaster Response Force have been pulled into action.

"Around five flats were occupied, mostly by those who work in factories in this area. When rescue work started, we heard the cries of those who were trapped. We rescued a woman from the rubble and sent her to hospital. Later, the dead body of a man was recovered," Surat Police Commissioner Anupam Singh told news agency PTI.

The six-storey building, which was constructed in 2017, collapsed on Saturday afternoon after heavy rains had lashed over the area.

As Monsoon season sets over India, several instances of building collapses and bridge collapses have been reported across the nation.

As per officials, the Surat building, despite being built in 2017, was in a dilapidated state with majority of the flats vacant.