Updated: 14.27pm
A man taken to hospital after suffering critical injuries when a building collapsed in Tbilisi today has died.
The death toll from this morning's building collapse has risen to four.
Doctors said the man was in a critical condition when taken to hospital and he passed away without gaining consciousness.
The Interior Ministry said an investigation into the incident had been launched corresponding to an Article of the Criminal Code of Georgia about violating safety norms during construction works.
Earlier: 12.00pm
Three people have died and another is badly injured after a building collapsed in central Tbilisi today.
Deputy head of Tbilisi division of Georgia’s Emergency Situation Management Department Davit Gelashvili confirmed the bodies of three workers had been recovered from the debris and a fourth worker had been taken to hospital with "very severe injuries” after the former building of the Institute of Computational Mathematics collapsed.
The men were part of a group of workers who were dismantling the building, which is located on Apakidze St, behind Tbilisi Sports Palace in Saburtalo district.
The building had recently been privatised and the new owner planned to knock down the existing infrastructure and construct a new business centre in its place. Workers were at the site to dismantle the building when the incident occurred today.
The Emergency Management team said several floors of the building had collapsed from the fourth floor and below. An investigation into the reason why the building collapsed is also underway, said the team.
The site has been deemed unsafe and rescue officers remain at the site. There remained a possibility the building would collapse further, said officials.