Turkish hotel collapse kills one

ISTANBUL, Turkey -- A two-story hotel collapsed in Istanbul early on Wednesday, killing at least one person and leaving a woman and her daughter buried inside, rescue workers said.

Authorities told Reuters news agency that more than 40 people had been pulled from the wreckage and at least 19 people were taken to hospital with injuries including broken bones, cuts and bruises.

A Hungarian mother and child have been identified as missing and the rescue worker said there may be at least one more person still buried under the debris.

Emergency workers used fibre-optic cameras fed into the rubble to locate people trapped under the Cinar Pension in the historic Aksaray district.

"We have some hope for the mother and daughter, but they are stuck beneath a 20-tonne piece of debris," the rescue worker told Reuters.

Within hours of the hotel's collapse, three other neighbouring buildings -- all evacuated -- collapsed and four others were damaged and leaning to one side.

The hotel caved in when a subway tunnel being built under the hotel collapsed, a statement from the Istanbul mayor's office said. Authorities ordered trains not to exceed 30 kph (18 mph) following the collapse to prevent further damage.

Police cordoned off the site of the collapsed hotel, frequented by working-class Turks and budget tourists from Iran and Romania, in the commercial district of Aksaray.