Three workers killed, 3 injured in stadium collapse in Shenzhen
- They had been carrying out demolition work when the structure came down
- Venue was being upgraded so it could host high-level sporting competitions
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Three workers were killed and three others were injured when a stadium in southern China collapsed during demolition work on Monday.
The Shenzhen Stadium came down at about 11.40am while the work was being carried out and the cause of the collapse was being investigated, the Futian district government said.
By 12.30pm, two workers had been rescued from the rubble and were taken to hospital, where one – a 50-year-old man surnamed Wang – later died, the government said.
Two other workers who were still trapped were freed at about 4.50pm and taken to hospital with injuries, it said. But two of the three who had been rescued from the rubble later died in hospital, the government said, without elaborating.
Another two workers who were nearby when the structure fell were treated in hospital for bone fractures.
The part of the venue that collapsed had previously been used as a basketball court but was being renovated and most of the interior had been torn down apart from a few pillars supporting the roof, according to Shenzhen Special Zone Daily.
Photos and video footage published by the newspaper showed the stadium’s collapsed roof at an angle on the ground, surrounded by rubble, with police cars, fire trucks and ambulances nearby.
Work to upgrade the stadium began last year, with a notice from the district government dated June 22, 2018 announcing it would be renovated so that it could host high-level and professional sporting competitions.
It said the stadium had been funded and built by the Shenzhen government in 1985 and needed to be upgraded.
With capacity for a crowd of 6,000 and outdated lighting and sound equipment, the stadium was not suitable for international events and lacked parking spaces, according to a report in Shenzhen Business Daily last year. That meant it could not compete with newer venues such as the Shenzhen Bay Stadium, or others in nearby cities Guangzhou and Zhuhai, and had missed out on several big events.
The government planned to have the upgrade finished by June 30 next year, with the main stadium’s seating to be expanded to 32,000.
