NANCHANG - Three workers were killed and three others injured after an elevator plunged to the ground at a construction site in East China's Jiangxi province Monday, local authorities said.

The accident took place at about 9 am at the construction site of a real estate project in Gao'an city, when the rope tying the elevator suddenly broke, and elevator with six workers aboard fell from a high position to the ground, a spokesman with the city government said.

One worker was killed instantly, and two others died in hospital, the spokesman said.

The three others remain hospitalized, he said.

An investigation into the cause of the accident is under way, he added.