Three students were killed and six others injured Wednesday afternoon after a wall collapsed near a school in Southwest China's Sichuan Province, local authorities said.

The wall of a residential house, which was being dismantled outside the primary and middle school in the township of Longche in Luzhou city, collapsed around 2:10 pm, according to sources with the press office of the city's Naxi District.

The injured students were immediately sent to a nearby hospital. Three died after rescue efforts failed.

The others are in stable and non-life-threatening condition, the sources said.

An investigation into the cause of the accident is under way.