At least one person was killed and up to 50 more were trapped under rubble yesterday after a football pitch-sized section of an unfinished shopping mall collapsed near the South African city of Durban, emergency services and police said.

If safety regulations were flouted, the accident could hurt the ruling African National Congress ahead of an election next year.

Durban and its province of KwaZulu-Natal are the home of President Jacob Zuma. The region has enjoyed a construction boom.

It was not clear what caused the three-storey building in the town of Tongaat to collapse, although Deputy Mayor Nomvuzo Shabalala said local authorities tried to halt construction at the site a month ago.

“There are areas of the law that they did not follow in terms of building of this infrastructure,” Shabalala told broadcaster ENCA.

“We were not aware that they were continuing building.”

The construction firm’s identity was not immediately known.

A further 26 people, some in critical condition, were in Tongaat hospital, 30 km north of Durban, Netcare 911 emergency service spokesman Chris Botha said.