First flats collapse, now warehouse wobble sends people fleeing in southern China
- Commercial building is in same Shenzhen street as residential block weakened by soil erosion
- Structural engineers fence off warehouse and inspect site
A warehouse in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen was evacuated on Thursday when it started swaying, a day after the partial collapse of a block of flats in the same street.
The commercial building in the Yucun neighbourhood in Luohu district, near the Shenzhen-Hong Kong border, was fenced off for a structural engineers’ inspection, the district committee said.
On Wednesday, one side of a nearby residential building gave way, tipping the flats onto an adjacent building.
Community workers moved residents out after calls about noises and vibrations below street level at about 9.30am, the Yangcheng Evening News reported, adding that no one was injured.
“I heard a huge noise, and the bed shook. Straight afterwards, I heard people outside my house shouting ‘Quick! Run!’” a woman resident surnamed Liang was quoted by the newspaper as saying.
Firefighters cordoned off the building and residents were sheltered in nearby school buildings.