Building collapse kills six in China’s pneumonia-hit city of Wuhan
- Central Chinese city’s woes compounded with construction site disaster which trapped 11 for nearly 24 hours
- Five injured all in stable condition as investigation into cause of collapse is underway
Rescuers painstakingly picked their way through the rubble for nearly 24 hours to get to the 11 people trapped in the accident, which happened at 3.30pm local time, according to the municipal government. All of the injured were in a stable condition.
The rescue effort was finally completed at 3pm on Monday and the focus was now on checking and cleaning up the accident site, while further investigations were also carried out, the government said.
The collapsed building, at No 1 Tianzishan Avenue in Wuhan’s Jiangxia district, was the first phase of an ecological leisure tourism project under development by Wuhan Badengcheng Investment, a wholly-controlled subsidiary of Guangdong Maoqi Investment which, in turn, is owned by Evergrande Tourism Group – the giant mainland company best known for its theme parks – according to China’s National Business Daily.
Wuhan, which is home to 11 million people, is also at the centre of an outbreak of an unidentified form of pneumonia which has so far seen 59 people admitted to hospital in the city. Laboratory tests have shown the mysterious disease is not cause by severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) or Middle East respiratory syndrome (Mers).
