At least 15 people are feared trapped under the debris of a five-storeyed building which collapsed on Friday in Kakinada, about 500 km from Hyderabad on the Andhra coast, police said.
The ground floor of the building has caved in and other floors have developed cracks but the entire building has not collapsed, a police officer said.
Local people and workers rescued four children and a woman. Nine children are reported to be among those still trapped under the rubble.
The families living on other floors escaped to safety while the children attending a dance class in the cellar are feared trapped.
The accident took place at Lakshminarayana Nagar, a residential area.
Chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy has directed the district collector and the commissioner of disaster management to seek help from Navy personnel in Visakhapatnam to rescue those trapped under the debris.