CHONGQING - Five people were crushed to death and two injured after a building rented by a small leather shoe factory as workshops in southwest China collapsed Tuesday night, local authorities announced Wednesday.

The accident took place at about 7:45 pm Tuesday when 13 workers were having meals in the first floor of a three-story building in a village in the Nan'an district in the city of Chongqing, the district government said in a statement.

The rescue operation ended Wednesday and among seven buried, two were pulled out alive and five were already dead.

An investigation into the cause of the collapse is underway.