At least eight dead in hotel collapse in eastern China
Rescue workers were digging through the remains of a collapsed hotel in eastern China looking for any survivors of a disaster that has killed at least eight people and left nine missing, authorities said on Tuesday. The workers in Suzhou searched through the night, using rescue dogs, cranes, ladders, and metal cutters, after the building collapsed on Monday afternoon, the city government said.
Twenty-three people were trapped when the hotel collapsed
Several orange-suited rescuers with helmets were working through the ruins of the building and were seen swarming over large piles of rubble. The cause of the collapse is under investigation. At least 23 people were trapped when the hotel collapsed. Six people were rescued and eight people were confirmed dead, leaving nine people unaccounted for.
The 54-room Siji Kaiyuan Hotel opened in 2018
Authorities said 18 of those trapped were identified through check-in records, apparently hotel guests. The identities of the other five were unclear. The 54-room Siji Kaiyuan Hotel opened in 2018, according to Ctrip, a Chinese online booking app. More than 600 people including earthquake rescue teams and 120 vehicles were mobilized for the operation, the city government said.
Building collapses are not uncommon in China
Suzhou, a city in Jiangsu province near Shanghai, is a popular tourist destination known for its historic canals and traditional Chinese gardens. Building collapses are not uncommon in China, often due to lax construction standards/corruption. Authorities in May evacuated one of China's tallest skyscrapers, the SEG Plaza in the southern city of Shenzhen after it shook multiple times over several days, India Today reported.
