Society

Building collapse kills 2, injures 7 in C China

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-05-20 21:51

WUHAN - The death toll from a building collapse in Central China now stands at two as another body was found under the rubble Friday, a local official said.

A half-finished five-storey building collapsed at about 6 pm Thursday in a village in Qiaokou district of Wuhan, the capital city of Hubei Province.

One of the dead was identified as the owner of the collapsed building and the other as a construction worker, said Yang Li, a deputy director of the district's publicity department.

Seven were injured in the collapse and remain under emergency treatment in the intensive care unit of a local hospital, including a contractor and six construction workers and villagers who were passing by.

Rescuers are still clearing the debris by hand and with simple tools as large machinery cannot be used at the small and narrow construction site. They have yet to detect signs of life under the debris and have no idea how many may be buried.

Authorities are probing the case.