Twenty-three people have been killed while 30 were severely injured in India after a wall collapsed on a crowd of people celebrating a wedding.

 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.

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.