BEIRUT, Lebanon

At least five people were crushed to death when a building collapsed in a crowded commercial district of Beirut on Saturday, raining chunks of debris on the street below, witnesses and rescue workers said.

Rescue workers said they expected to pull at least a dozen more people from the ruins, but declined to speculate on how many people had been in the building.

Rescue workers said they had pulled at least two dead bodies from the wreckage of the building in the Corniche Al- Mazraa neighborhood, where the Lebanese army used bulldozers to try and unearth several cars flattened by falling debris.

The building housed a school, but there were conflicting reports about whether children were in the building when it collapsed. Witnesses said students were present on Saturday morning, but a Lebanese security source said it had been empty.

Lebanese television showed several twisted, bleeding bodies trapped under debris, and rescue workers moved at least two bodies wrapped in blankets from the wreckage.

The remains of two people have so far been removed from the site, but there is speculation that more may be trapped inside.

Police said approximately 15 of the construction workers were in the building when the incident occurred.

There are conflicting reports about whether the school was in use at the time of the collapse. Some witnesses say the school had not been in use for many years, after it was damaged in the 1975-90 civil war.