LONDON, (AFP) -- Five men died Thursday in an accident at a recycling centre near Birmingham, central England and a sixth man has been taken to hospital with serious leg injuries, police said.

"Police can confirm that five men have died after an industrial accident at a recycling site at Nechells this morning," the police statement said, referring to a suburb of the city.

"Officers were called... to reports that a wall had collapsed. Emergency services attended but the men could not be saved and they were pronounced dead at the scene," the statement said.

Police spokesman Mark Payne said: "We are still in the very early stages of this investigation to determine exactly what happened this morning."