Three people died and seven others were injured after a three-storey building collapsed in Zarqa on Wednesday morning.

The persons killed in the accident were a 20-year-old man, a 16-year-old girl and a 10-year-old boy.

Zarqa Governor Mohammad Smeiran told Roya that the building came down after one of its owners removed the inner walls on the ground floor due to renovation works, thereby weakening the foundation of the top floors and causing them to collapse.

Smeiran said that the building was constructed in the early 70s, adding that the buildings next door to it were evacuated following the incident, to ensure the safety of their residents.

Twenty-one people lived in the collapsed building, two of whom Civil Defence officers are currently trying to rescue from under the rubble.