No death has so far been announced by the Chinese authorities, the day after the collapse of an eight-story building that housed a hotel.
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Dozens of people were trapped or missing on Saturday April 30, the day after a building collapsed in central China, the cause of which is still unknown. The eight-story building, which housed a hotel, apartments and a cinema, collapsed on Friday afternoon in the city of Changsha.
At least 23 people were trapped late Saturday, while 39 others remained unreachable, Changsha Mayor Zheng Jianxin told reporters. No deaths have been announced so far. “The situation of the missing persons is the subject of a thorough assessment”, said the mayor. According to city authorities, five people were rescued overnight from the collapsed structure. Rescuers were trying to make their way through the rubble. They used circular saws to extricate several survivors.
The authorities have not yet given an explanation for this disaster. State television CCTV nevertheless explained that “tenants had made structural changes to the premises to varying degrees”.
President Xi Jinping ordered a full investigation into the cause of the collapse and called for a search for victims “whatever the price”, state media reported. A senior Communist Party official was dispatched to the scene, which testifies to the gravity of the disaster.