Beijing - At least 17 workers died and another was seriously injured after a heavily overloaded lift plummeted to the ground at a construction site in the central province of Hunan on Saturday, the government said.

The lift crashed to the ground at 7:30 am (2330 GMT Friday) at the construction site for a high-rise residential complex in the provincial capital of Changsha, the State Administration of Work Safety reported on its website.

The official Xinhua news agency quoted a worker as saying the lift was designed to carry 12 people but was ascending with 18 people inside when it fell to the ground.

A construction worker surnamed Xie told the agency that the accident occurred "just after five workers got off at the 17th floor," suggesting it had earlier carried 23 workers, almost double its capacity.

Police detained the construction firm's general manager, the project manager and the lift operator, the agency quoted Li Xinmin, Changsha city's deputy police chief, as saying.

Police and safety officials were investigating the cause of the accident at the "Shanghai City" site, which is being developed by the Hunan-based Dongfanghong construction group.

The dead workers were apparently travelling to the 30th floor of a 32-storey building under construction at the complex, the agency said. (dpa)