The Chinese Ministry of Emergency Management announced, Sunday, that 10 people perished in a hotel, in south-eastern China, being used as a coronavirus quarantine centre which collapsed Saturday night.
According to reports, at least 80 people were in the hospitality facility when it came down. While nine persons escaped, 71 got trapped. And of that number, according to CNN, 48 were pulled out of the rubble and 23 were yet to be accounted for.
In the meantime, CNN reported that the Fujian Fire Department had deployed more than 1,000 fire fighters and other emergency responders, who worked through the night to find survivors.
“We are using life detection instruments to monitor signs of life and professional breaking-in tools to make forcible entries,” the cable TV quoted Guo Yutuan, squadron leader of the Quanzhou armed police detachment’s mobile unit, as saying. “We are trying our utmost to save trapped people.”
Among those rescued were a young boy, his father and mother, the CNN report continued. The family was taken to a hospital.
At the time of the collapse, 58 people were under quarantine in the hotel and all had tested negative for the novel coronavirus or COVID-19 that has been spreading fears across the world. There were also 16 hotel staff and six car dealership employees on site at the time of the collapse.
The building’s owner has been taken into police custody, according to state news agency, Xinhua.
The hotel was a seven-storey steel structure, built in 2013, and converted to a hotel in 2018, according to Xinhua. The owner began renovating the first floor in January.
Workers called the owner around 7 p.m. local time on Saturday and told him a pillar had become distorted during construction, according to Xinhua. The building collapsed a few minutes later.
Local officials told Xinhua that an investigation will determine if the building collapsed due to structural issues or renovation work.
Quanzhou is about 600 miles from Wuhan, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak in China, where more than 3,000 people have died from the virus.