issuing time: 06/05/2022 – 10:27
Search and rescue work ended a week after the collapse of an eight-story building in Changsha, Hunan Province. As of May 6, 10 people were rescued and 53 were killed, according to Chinese state media.
The building where the accident occurred is located in the center of Changsha and contains hotels, apartments and a cinema. The building suddenly collapsed on April 29. The cause has not yet been determined.
China’s CCTV reported on Friday that rescue efforts at the scene had ended and all those missing had been found, with 10 rescued and 53 killed. At a news conference on the accident held in Changsha that day, city officials expressed their condolences to the families of the victims and a “sincere apology.”
After the accident, Chinese President Xi Jinping ordered a thorough investigation into the cause, demanding “whatever it takes” to find victims. The rescue operation has been going on for a week, mobilizing hundreds of people to participate in the rescue, and posting a live video of the rescue on the Internet.
The last person to be rescued was a woman who was conscious when she was rescued from the rubble on Thursday, five and a half days after the disaster, even advising rescuers how to pull her out without hurting her. Netizens called her rescue a “miracle”.
Rescued before her was a 21-year-old girl who was studying for a test in her room when the building collapsed. Fortunately, she had a blanket and half a bottle of water by her side, which miraculously survived under the rubble for 88 hours, the state-run People’s Daily reported.
According to Changsha officials, 11 people, including the building’s owner, design and construction, and security checkers, have been arrested on suspicion of self-remodeling and providing false safety assessments.
Agence France-Presse reported that such disasters often occur in China, and subsequent investigations have shown that most of the reasons are because of non-compliance with building standards. In July 2021, a hotel in Suzhou collapsed, killing 17 people. In March 2020, a hotel in Quanzhou, Fujian that had been requisitioned as a COVID-19 quarantine hotel collapsed, killing 29 people.