Coronavirus: at least 10 dead as 'quarantine hotel' collapses in China
7 March 2020, 16:30
At least 10 people have been killed and another 23 are missing after a hotel being used in China's coronavirus fight suddenly collapsed.
71 people had been trapped following the collapse of the building in the city of Quanzhou the previous evening.
Firefighters working through the night and into the next day have rescued 38 people so far.
The hotel was housing people who had come from areas hit hard by the epidemic. All of them had tested negative.
Chinese cities are isolating people from hard-hit areas for 14 days.
The cause of the collapse is under investigation.
#Update: The Ministry of Emergency Management has sent a team to the site of Xinjia hotel, which collapsed in E China's Quanzhou on Sat evening, to assist local rescue work. The hotel is a medical observation site for close contacts with #COVID19 patients. https://t.co/44iEe8I1SV pic.twitter.com/L2ADWCrXr9
— Global Times (@globaltimesnews) March 7, 2020
Chinese state media said the hotel was being used as a medical observation site for people who had been in close contact with Covid-19 patients.
Shocking footage posted by Global Times showed search teams looking for survivors as night fell in the eastern Chinese city.
The paper said in one tweet that “all-out efforts are being carried out for the rescue… to minimise casualties and prevent secondary accidents.”
They added: “Authorities also urged that a probe should be launched to investigate the cause for the collapse.”
