In northeast China, eleven people died on Sunday when a roof collapsed in a school gymnasium, official media reported today.
According to the official Chinese news agency Xinhua, the building collapsed shortly before 3 p.m. (Sunday 8 a.m. in Lisbon) in Qiqihar, Heilongjiang province.
Qiqihar is located one thousand kilometers northeast of Beijing and is geographically close to Mongolia and the Russian Far East.
#UrgentLNSV #International | In the Chinese city of Qiqihar, the concrete ceiling of a gymnasium collapsed, killing 10 people, according to state media. pic.twitter.com/cyWYnnbeKV
– La Noticia SV (@lanoticiasv) July 24, 2023
“A total of 11 people died in the accident and an investigation is ongoing,” state broadcaster CCTV said.
According to the local newspaper Heilongjiang Daily, there were 19 people in the gym when the accident happened. Four people managed to escape and four were pulled alive from the rubble.
The images from the television cameras showed how the roof of the gym completely collapsed and the rescue teams searched for survivors among the rubble.
The search, which involved about 160 firefighters, has now ended, the official CCTV television channel reports.
According to initial investigations reported by China News, the perlite – a form of volcanic glass – used in the construction of the roof of the gymnasium expanded during Sunday’s heavy rains, causing the roof to collapse.
Construction company workers were detained, the agency said.
Construction-related accidents are a regular occurrence in China, after decades of rapid activity development, sometimes to the detriment of safety standards.
Source: DN
