Death toll in restaurant collapse rises to 29 in north China
0 Comment(s)
Print
E-mail Xinhua, August 31, 2020
Twenty-nine people have been confirmed dead after a village restaurant partly collapsed Saturday in north China's Shanxi province, local authorities said Sunday.
The accident happened at around 9:40 a.m. Saturday when relatives and fellow villagers were waiting to attend a birthday party banquet for an 80-year-old man at the Juxian Restaurant in Chenzhuang Village in Xiangfen County, according to the rescue team.
"The banquet hall collapsed with a crash," recalled Wang Guoping. The 61-year-old immediately rushed to the site as his wife and 5-year-old granddaughter were trapped under the collapsed hall with a floor area of about 100 square meters.
Twenty-one females were among the dead, including Wang's wife and granddaughter.
The rescue work was completed at 3:52 a.m. Sunday. A total of 57 people were pulled out of the debris of the collapsed two-story building. Twenty-nine of them were confirmed dead, seven were severely injured and 21 others suffered minor injuries. The conditions of the seven serious cases were not life-threatening.
Top provincial officials on Saturday ordered all-out efforts for the rescue operation involving 840 rescue workers and more than 100 medical staff.
Rescuers earlier used small tools and bare hands to search for trapped people as the narrowness of the collapsed site and fears of further collapse complicated the rescue efforts. They later continued the rescue operation with the help of large machinery, sniffer dogs, and life detectors.
"Large machineries could not be easily controlled and could cause further collapses," said Li Ming, a local paramilitary police officer. "Before big machineries were used, we tried our best to rescue all people out with small tools."
An investigation team has been set up to probe the accident.
The Work Safety Committee of China's State Council said Saturday it will supervise the investigation into the restaurant collapse, ordering to screen safety risks of illegal buildings.
The Shanxi provincial government has ordered a safety inspection over buildings and public gathering places across the province starting Sunday.
Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)