WASHINGTON (REUTERS) - Search and rescue crews on Thursday (July 1) freed a construction worker who had been trapped for more than 90 minutes inside a partially-built five-storey building that collapsed during a rain storm in Washington.

The man, who was not identified by authorities, was taken to a local hospital with "serious but not life-threatening" injuries, said Mr John Donnelly, assistant chief of DC Fire and EMS.

Four other construction workers were rescued from the debris shortly after the building about 8km north of the Capitol came down at around 3.30pm (3.30am Singapore time), Mr Donnelly said.

They were also taken to a local hospital. They had non-life-threatening injuries, Mr Donnelly said.

Images showed dozens of firefighters swarming over piles of wood left behind by the collapse, about 8km north of the Capitol building, just east of Rock Creek Park.

Last week, a condominium tower collapsed in Surfside, Florida as most residents slept.

Searchers there have recovered 18 bodies and say another 145 people remain missing.

President Joe Biden travelled to the scene of the 12-storey Champlain Towers South in Florida on Thursday.