At least 39 people were missing and 23 trapped as a building, comprising a hotel, apartments and a cinema collapsed on Friday in China’s central Hunan province, authorities said. The reason for the collapse is under investigation.
State media reported, “Tenants had made structural changes to the premises to varying degrees.” President Xi Jinping has ordered a thorough investigation into the cause of the collapse. Building collapses are not uncommon in China, due to weak safety and construction standards as well as corruption among officials tasked with enforcement.
In January, an explosion triggered by a suspected gas leak brought down a building in the city of Chongqing, killing more than a dozen people. Twenty-five people also lost their lives in June 2021 when a gas blast hit a residential compound in the city of Shiyan.
The same month, 18 people were killed and more injured when a fire broke out at a martial arts school, with state media reporting that all the victims were boarding school pupils.