POLICE in Tamil Nadu state arrested two construction company directors today after a building collapse killed at least 11 people.

The 11-storey block of flats in the state capital of Chennai crumbled late on Saturday as heavy rains and lightning pounded the outskirts of the city.

Nearly 90 contract workers were collecting their week’s wages in the building’s basement when it collapsed.

Police said that rescuers using gas cutters and shovels had pulled out 31 workers and the search was continuing for over a dozen others.

A further 11 people died earlier that day when a 50-year-old four-storey structure in New Delhi, housing the poor, collapsed.

Building collapses are common in India, where high demand for housing and lax regulations have encouraged some builders to cut corners, use substandard materials or add unauthorised extra floors.

The worst recent instance was in April 2013 in Maharashtra state when an eight-storey building disintegrated, killing 74 people.