SHANGHAI (AP) — At least nine people are trapped in a building collapse in China's financial hub of Shanghai.

The city's rescue service said the building in the city's downtown Changning district was undergoing refurbishment to convert it into an auto showroom when it gave way around 11:30 a.m. on Thursday.

It said 24 emergency vehicles and more than 150 personnel responded. By early afternoon, 11 out of the approximately 20 people buried in the collapse had been pulled from the rubble. Their conditions were not immediately known.

China has suffered a spate of industrial accidents in recent months.

A major fire in Shanghai in 2010 destroyed a 28-story apartment building that was under repair, killing at least 58 people. Authorities blamed sparks from a welder's torch.