Freetown, Aug 13 : The National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) of Sierra Leone said a four-story building collapsed in Freetown, the country's capital, and several people were feared buried under the rubble.

Mohamed Bah, director of communications at the NDMA, told Xinhua news agency over the phone that emergency response teams were quickly dispatched to the scene of the collapsed building and worked tirelessly to extricate any individuals who may have been trapped underneath the wreckage.

Initial investigations have pointed to substandard construction practices as the cause of the accident, he said.

The collapse of the building came on Monday amid an ongoing heavy rainfall that has been inundating the region since the previous month. The downpour has resulted in flooding and the erosion of essential infrastructure such as roads and bridges.

/IANS