(Beijing) A person was released alive Monday in China from the rubble of a building collapsed three days earlier, announced the public television, while the hope of finding survivors is now slim.
Posted at 8:13 a.m.
The eight-storey building, which housed a hotel, apartments and a cinema, collapsed in the city of Changsha (center) on Friday for an undetermined reason.
On Monday, national television CCTV showed footage of a person wrapped in a thick white blanket on a stretcher. Rescuers in blue outfits were busy in an ambulance for an evacuation to a hospital.
The chain gave no indication of the state of health of this 8and person found.
Other images showed rescuers still at work at the scene.
The mayor of Changsha, Zheng Jianxin, had mentioned a “golden window” of 72 hours for relief operations. With this deadline past Monday, the chances of finding survivors are now dwindling.
About fifteen people remain trapped, while 39 others are unreachable.
On Sunday, a seventh person was found by rescuers more than 50 hours after the search began.
A one-meter wall then separated her from the rescuers, who had detected signs of life earlier, according to CCTV.
Rescuers had to make their way through the rubble. In particular, they used circular saws to extricate several survivors.
The authorities have not yet given an explanation for this disaster.
Nine people, including the owner of the building, were however arrested on Sunday in connection with this affair.
They are suspected of having falsified a security audit, according to the official news agency China news.