Authorities in north China's Hebei Province said Tuesday three people died when a building in Shijiazhuang City toppled in the wake of torrential rains early Tuesday.

The death toll is expected to rise as more than a dozen people were buried in the collapse,Zhang Haishuang, press section chief of the Chinese Communist Party's Shijiazhuang City Committee's publicity department.

The collapse happened in the city's Nanshijiazhuang Village in Xizhaotong Township, Chang'an District.

Shijiazhuang turned dark at 7 a.m. on Tuesday as rainstorms hit the city. The Hebei Provincial Weather Observatory issued warnings at 7 a.m. of probable hazards caused by the thunderstorm and torrential rain. During the morning, 65.7 mm of rain fell in the city.

The building, which was under construction, collapsed at 8:30 a.m. during a loud thunderstorm, an unidentified villager said. Those buried were mostly workers in the building.

Rescuers at the scene said a lightning strike toppled the building, which belonged to a local company, Tengfei Malleable Iron Casting Co. Ltd.

The site of the accident was cordoned off by police.

Rescue operations are underway.

(Xinhua News Agency August 4, 2009)