TWO were dead and one person remained missing Saturday night after the collapse of a Hard Rock Hotel under construction in New Orleans.

Officials tweeted about the second fatality late Saturday, saying the search and rescue operation would resume the next day.

The under-construction building collapsed Saturday at about 9 a.m., when one person was pronounced dead at the site.

“It’s a very dangerous situation,” Fire Superintendent Timothy McConnell said, adding that the building was “unstable.”

The fire department evacuated several buildings near the hotel.

Eighteen people were taken to the hospital in stable condition. EMS Director Emily Nichols said at a news conference Saturday afternoon that some of them have been released and several others transported themselves to the hospital. One person who was injured refused medical treatment.

The upper floors of the building began to fall on top of each other before one side of the building fell to the ground below.

“This remains a very fluid and very dangerous situation, and every few minutes something is falling off of this building,” Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said at a news conference Saturday morning.  (SD-Agencies)