India, June 27 -- Three workers from West Bengal were killed after a two-storey dilapidated building collapsed in Kerala's Thrissur district on Friday morning, police said.

Built with laterite stones, the old building located near the Kodakara panchayat office housed around 17 inter-state workers, an officer said.

The workers were getting ready to leave for work when the building collapsed around 6 am, trapping three - Rahul Islam (19), Abidul Aleem (21), and Rupel Mannan (21) - while 14 workers managed to escape, the officer added.

Police suspect that heavy rainfall over the past few days in the region weakened the structure.

"A comprehensive investigation will be done on how the building collapsed and why people were allowed to live...