GUIYANG - At least six people were confirmed dead and 15 others injured after a building under construction collapsed on Monday in Southwest China's Guizhou province.

Rescue workers try to move a piece of concrete blocking the search for survivors after a building under construction collapsed in Yangguan village, Jinyang new district in Southwest China's Guizhou province, March 28, 2011. Six people died, and at least 15 were injured. [Photo/Xinhua]

Officials with local administration of work safety said the accident happened at around 11 am when the four-story building collapsed in Yangguan village, Jinyang new district, near the provincial capital of Guiyang.

Six bodies were found when rescuers cleared the debris down to the first floor on Monday evening. Among the 15 people injured, three were seriously hurt, said Yang Xiaoping, head of the Guiyang municipal administration of work safety.

Ding Xudong, an official with Jinyang New District, said more than 20 people were in the building when it collapsed. But the exact number was still unclear because all construction workers were migrant laborers.

Initial investigation showed that the building was illegally built by Xu Xianyou, who rented the land from villager Huang Shengfei to build a plastic product factory.

Xu Xianyou and his wife, Huang Shengfei and a construction contractor have been taken into police custody.

The unauthorized construction has been twice ordered to be halted but the orders were ignored, said Ding.

A woman is carried away on a stretcher after being pulled out from the debris of a collapsed building in Yangguan village, Jinyang new district in Southwest China's Guizhou province, March 28, 2011. [Photo/Xinhua]