Police on Thursday said twenty-three people were killed and 30 injured in India when a wall collapsed on a crowd of people celebrating a wedding.

 Police official Bharat Meena said that the 12-foot high wall collapsed 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.

 Meena added that five children were among the dead. 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.

VANGUARD