Beijing  - Officials in central China have suspended the use of lifts, cranes and similar equipment on construction sites pending safety checks, after 17 people died when an overloaded lift plummeted to the ground on Saturday, state media said on Sunday.

The Hunan provincial construction bureau ordered the suspension after a lift carrying 18 workers, but reportedly designed for a maximum of 12, plunged from at least 17 stories the semi-official China News Service said.

Seventeen workers died and the other was seriously injured at the construction site for a high-rise residential complex in the provincial capital of Changsha, reports said.

The official Xinhua news agency earlier quoted a worker as saying the lift was designed to carry 12 people but was ascending to the 30th floor with 18 people inside when it fell to the ground.

A construction worker with the surname 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 under development by the Hunan-based Dongfanghong construction group. (dpa)