22 wedding guests die tragically in India

The collapsed wall.

About 22 guests at a wedding reception have been confirmed dead in western India. They met their death after a wall collapsed on them while taking shelter from a storm on Wednesday.
A local police officer, Anil Tank told AFP news agency.

"The wall and a tin shed attached to it at the marriage venue collapsed due to a storm," said Tank, superintendent of police in Bharatpur, the district of Rajasthan state where the incident occurred.

The death toll included at least four children. Another 28 people were injured and have been taken to hospital, Tank added.

"The injured were rushed to nearby hospitals immediately and treatment was administered. One injured has been referred for SMS Hospital in Jaipur," said Tank.

The incident took place nearly 200km south of the capital Delhi.

“We worked through the night," a rescue worker told India TV.

"We tried to rescue as many people as possible, the scene was horrific," the rescuer added.

Rajasthan is one of India's most arid states, but suffers frequent dust storms during the hotter months.

A heatwave has swept across many parts of India in recent weeks, with temperatures reaching 44C in 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 unauthorised 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.