New Delhi, Sep 28 (IANS): Five people were killed and more than 22 others were injured Tuesday evening when a three-storey building collapsed in central Delhi, police said.

Twenty others were feared to be trapped under the debris of the 60-year-old building.

The accident took place in Chandni Mahal area near Jama Masjid around 8 p.m. The Katra Data Ram ki Haveli was one of the old heritage buildings in the Walled City.

Police said the toll is likely to increase as rescue efforts were still on early Wednesday morning.

The dead included 40-year-old Arshad and four women: Tabassum, 18, Shauqat Bi, 65, Fatima, 65, and Munni Devi, 70, who were declared brought dead at the Lok Nayak Hospital.

Fire officials said the building collapsed due to a digging work in an adjacent under construction house.

Officers of the fire brigade, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and Delhi Disaster Management Authority were deployed in addition to police to secure the area.

About 500 members of the spiritual organisation Dera Sacha Sauda also rushed to the site to help in the rescue efforts.

"My mother in-law (Shauqat Bi) was travelling when parts of the building fell over her," Salahuddin told IANS.

Union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal, who represents the Chandni Chowk constituency, visited the injured at the hospital. Three of them were in critical condition. The Imam of Jama Masjid, Syed Ahmed Bukhari, also visited the hospital.

"There are lots of debris to be cleared," said Jai Prakash, a member of the Dera Sacha Sauda.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of Municipal Corporation of Delhi's (MCD) Standing Committee, Yogender Chandolia, said MCD Commissioner K.S. Mehra has been asked to probe the incident.

"I have asked him to submit a report in tomorrow's (Wednesday) Standing Committee meeting," he said.