The separating wall of Yan'nei hydropower station collapsed at 1:20 pm on Wednesday, leaving two people dead and three in critical condition.

The incident in Dayan village, Penghua town, Nan'an city in Fujian province happened during the routine maintenance of the station's diversion canal.

Local officials, emergency, fire and water conservancy departments arrived at the site immediately. By 2 pm, all the five workers were rescued and sent to the Nan'an Hospital. Two died despite emergency rescue efforts, and three are in critical care.

An investigation is underway.

Tang Ziye contributed to the story.