At least 40 people were killed and many are feared trapped after supporting cranes at a power station’s construction site in eastern China's Jiangxi province collapsed on Thursday, according to a report.

The accident in the city of Yichun, Jiangxi province, occurred at about 7am (2300 GMT) when the platform of the plant’s cooling tower, which was under construction, collapsed, reported the SouthChina Morning Post.

The State Administration of Work Safety said on its website that 68 workers were involved in the construction project at the time of the accident.

The death toll was likely to mount as an unknown number of people were still trapped under the debrls, it said. Five injured workers have been sent to hospital, it added.

The construction of two 1,000-megawatt coal-fired power units at the Ganneng Fengcheng power station began last July and was expected to be completed by early 2018, the local Yichun city government said last year.