At least 23 people trapped under collapsed building in China
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BEIJING • At least 23 people are trapped under a building that collapsed in central China, officials said yesterday as rescuers pulled apart the rubble brick by brick in an effort to reach survivors.
The building, which housed a hotel, apartments and a cinema, caved in on Friday afternoon in Changsha city, Hunan province, leaving a gaping hole along a densely built street front.
Another 39 people were not contactable after the incident, the mayor of Changsha told reporters. It was not clear if the authorities believed the people who could not be contacted were also under the rubble.
"The situation of the missing persons is being further assessed," Mayor Zheng Jianxin said.
City authorities have yet to release details of casualties, but said five people were rescued from the structure overnight.
State media showed firefighters - backed by a digger - cutting through a morass of metal and sheets of concrete. Chains of rescuers removed pieces of brick by hand.
No cause for the disaster has yet been given by the authorities, although speculation turned to possible excessive work on the property, which officials said was eight storeys high.
"Tenants had made structural changes to the premises to varying degrees," state broadcaster CCTV reported, adding that the reason for the collapse was under investigation.
President Xi Jinping has called for a search for victims "at all cost", state media reported, adding that he had ordered a thorough investigation into the cause of the collapse. State Councilor Wang Yong - appointed by the central government - was sent to lead a team to guide the rescue and emergency response work.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
