At least 76 garment workers have been confirmed dead in Bangladesh after an eight-storey building containing clothing manufacturing units collapsed, officials say. It has been confirmed that one of the manufacturers has previously supplied the UK discount fashion chain Matalan.

Mohammed Neazuddin, Bangladesh’s health secretary, confirmed the deaths of the 76 people, and police said hundreds more remained trapped under the rubble.

The building, in Savar, about 12 miles north of Dhaka, the capital, collapsed at 9am on Wednesday morning, after production had started at the building. An official at a nearby hospital where most of the injured were taken said most of the dead appeared to be female workers.

Bangladeshi army units and fire service personnel are conducting rescue operations with help from local volunteers. A fire service official said they had rescued about 1,000 people from under the rubble.

Among the businesses in the collapsed building in Savar were New Wave – which has two garment factories there, New Wave Style and New Wave Bottoms – and Phantom Apparels Ltd.

A spokeswoman for Matalan, which has 212 stores in the UK selling fashion for men, women and children, and homeware, said: “We can confirm that New Wave has been a supplier to Matalan, although we don’t have any current production with them. We are deeply saddened by the news and we have been trying to get in touch with our contacts since we heard to check if we are able to assist them.”

Matalan describes itself on its website as being “one of the UK’s leading clothing and homeware retailers, offering quality fashion and homeware at up to half the equivalent high-street price”.

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