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

The 12-foot (3.6-metre) 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, police official Bharat Lal Meena said.

Five children were among the dead, Meena said.

Police registered a case of culpable homicide against the building owner and were questioning him.

A power outage hampered rescue work. It wasn't clear if the dust storm was a factor in the collapse.

The district is in Rajasthan state nearly 200 kilometers (125 miles) south of New Delhi.

Building collapses are common in India, where high demand for housing and lax regulations have encouraged some builders to cut corners, use substandard materials or add unauthorized extra floors.

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

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.