A 50-year-old worker died on Tuesday (Feb 21) after being buried by falling waste at a power station in Hong Kong.

The man was part of a group of seven cleaning a tower that was about 10m deep at Castle Peak Power Station, in Hong Kong's Tuen Mun District, Hong Kong's Apple Daily News reported on Tuesday.

Waste material, identified as coal ash by South China Morning Post (SCMP) in a report on Tuesday, fell on the workers while they were cleaning at about 11am.

They evacuated but realised that one of their colleagues was missing. Suspecting that he was trapped in the tower, they called the police.

The Fire Services Department dispatched 18 fire engines and four ambulances, SCMP reported.

At 2.05pm, rescuers extricated the man from the pile of waste, but he was already dead.

Authorities are currently investigating, with police labelling the case as an industrial accident.