Wall collapses at wedding in India, killing twenty three

This frame grab from video provided by KK Productions shows debris at the site of an accident in Bharatpur District, about 200km south of New Delhi. Photo / AP

Twenty three people are dead and 30 injured after a wall collapsed on a crowd celebrating a wedding in western India.

The 3.6m high wall toppled late on Wednesday because of heavy rain, crashing down on the wedding party during dinner in a marriage hall in the western state of Rajasthan, police official Bharat Lal Meena said.

Five children were among the dead, Meena said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a Twitter post he was pained by the accident.

Weddings are elaborate affairs in India with even people of modest income inviting large numbers of guests to receptions, often in purpose-built halls.

Building collapses are common with high demand for housing and lax regulations encouraging some builders to cut corners, use substandard materials or add unauthorised extra floors.

In 2013, a building being constructed illegally in Mumbai collapsed, killing 74 people in the country's worst building collapse in decades.

- with Reuters, AP