At least 76 garment workers have been confirmed dead in Bangladesh after an eight-storey building containing clothing manufacturing units collapsed, officials say. It has been confirmed that one of the manufacturers has previously supplied the UK discount fashion chain Matalan.

Mohammed Neazuddin, Bangladesh's health secretary, confirmed the deaths of the 76 people, and police said hundreds more remained trapped under the rubble.

The building, in Savar, about 12 miles north of Dhaka, the capital, collapsed at 9am on Wednesday morning, after production had started at the building. An official at a nearby hospital where most of the injured were taken said most of the dead appeared to be female workers.

Bangladeshi army units and fire service personnel are conducting rescue operations with help from local volunteers. A fire service official said they had rescued about 1,000 people from under the rubble.

Among the businesses in the collapsed building in Savar were New Wave – which has two garment factories there, New Wave Style and New Wave Bottoms – and Phantom Apparels Ltd.

A spokeswoman for Matalan, which has 212 stores in the UK selling fashion for men, women and children, and homeware, said: "We can confirm that New Wave has been a supplier to Matalan, although we don't have any current production with them. We are deeply saddened by the news and we have been trying to get in touch with our contacts since we heard to check if we are able to assist them."

Matalan describes itself on its website as being "one of the UK's leading clothing and homeware retailers, offering quality fashion and homeware at up to half the equivalent high-street price".

Dilara Begum, a garment worker who survived the accident, said workers had been ordered to leave after a crack appeared in the wall of the building on Tuesday, but on Wednesday morning supervisors had asked them to return to work, saying the building had been inspected and declared safe.

"The whole world seemed to shake and then all was dark," said Begum, who worked at the Phantom factory, on the fourth floor of the building. She said she had been pulled out of the rubble by local people.

The commercial building, called Rana Plaza, developed cracks at about 9am on Tuesday. It housed four garment factories, where an estimated 5,000 workers were employed, plus a bank and some shops. The bank sent its staff home on Tuesday, locals said.

The incident is the latest in a series of industrial accidents in Bangladesh. In November, a fire at the Tazreen Fashions Limited factory killed 111 workers. An inquiry blamed the factory management for criminal negligence.

In 2005, the Spectrum sweater factory in Dhaka collapsed, killing 64 people and injuring 80.

Laia Blanch, international programmes officer with the charity War on Want, which campaigns for better working conditions for overseas workers in the garment and other industries, said: "It is dreadful that … governments continue to allow garment workers to die or suffer terrible, disabling injuries in unsafe factories making clothes for western nations' shoppers. How many more lives must be lost or crushed before ministers and companies act to stop these scandalous human tragedies?"

Sam Maher, of Labour Behind the Label, said: "It's unbelievable that brands still refuse to sign a binding agreement with unions and labour groups to stop these unsafe working conditions from existing. Tragedy after tragedy shows that corporate-controlled monitoring has failed to protect workers' lives."

She added: "Right now the families of the victims are grieving and the community is in shock. But shortly they, and the hundreds injured in the collapse, will be without income and without support. Compensation must be provided by the brands who were sourcing from these factories, and responsibility taken for their lack of action to prevent this happening."