One worker was killed and two others are missing after a workshop under demolishment collapsed yesterday morning at a cement plant in Lin'an City in Zhejiang Province.

Nine workers were tearing down a six-story workshop at the Shanggan No.1 Cement Factory when the top two stories came crashing down at around 9 AM Thursday. Five workers escaped while four others were buried under rubble, according to the local government.

Rescuers later found two trapped workers, both seriously injured. One died in hospital and the other is still in critical condition, said Shi Yongzhong, head of the rescue group.

Little progress was made in the search of the two others as the remaining part of the workshop might collapse at any time, Shi said.

Also yesterday, a worker was killed and nine others injured when the roof of a gas station collapsed in Wenchang, Hainan Province, according to local newspaper reports.

The contractor and private gas station owner were detained and an investigation was underway.

In another development yesterday, a miner was rescued after having survived an 11-day ordeal trapped in a gypsum mine that caved in. This happened on November 6 in Xingtai County, Hebei Province.

(Xinhua News Agency, China Daily November 18, 2005)