At least three people were killed and 87 others injured after the roof of a night bar collapsed early Monday morning in south-west China.

The steel framework surrounding the 0776plus Bar in the city of Baise in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region gave way at around 1 am, trapping its customers.

Four people are still believed to be trapped under the rubble and rescue efforts are still underway, according to the regional emergency management department.

Rescuers try to find survivors at the site where a building collapsed in Baise City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in south-west China on Monday

The steel framework surrounding the 0776plus Bar in the city of Baise in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region gave way at around 1 am, trapping its customers

The three victims died in hospital and the rest sustained varying degrees of injury, the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Emergency Management Department said in a statement on its website.

Thirty-four people are hospitalised for surgery or further observation while 53 have been discharged after receiving treatment.

A team of 260 police officers and firefighters have been using search dogs and electronic monitors to try to find other survivors, the authority said.

An injured person is carried by rescuers to an ambulance from the site where a bar collapsed

An injured man is attended to after being rescued from the rubble. A team of 260 rescuers were using search dogs and electronic monitors to try to find other survivors

The manager of the business is under police control amid investigations, authorities said

The bar, with a space of 700 square meters (7,500 square feet), is located on the top floor of a three-story steel-framed building.

The manager of the business is under police control amid investigations, the statement added.

China has recently suffered a spate of building collapses and other industrial accidents largely blamed on the skirting of safety requirements amid a slowing economy.

On Thursday, a building being refurbished collapsed in Shanghai, and in March, 78 people were killed in a blast at a chemical plant in the country's east.

In November, at least 22 were killed in an explosion outside a chemical plant in the northeastern city of Zhangjiakou, which will host competitions in the 2022 Winter Olympics.