Death toll rises to 17 in partial collapse of China hotel

BEIJING - The death toll in the partial collapse of a budget hotel in China's eastern city of Suzhou on Monday has risen to 17, state media said on Wednesday.

Of the 23 people trapped in the rubble of the Siji Kaiyuan Hotel in Suzhou only 6 survived, according to state media.

More than 650 people were involved in the search and rescue operation, which concluded on Wednesday morning.

The provincial government of Jiangsu has set up a team to conduct an in-depth investigation on the specific causes of the collapse.

The Siji Kaiyuan opened in 2018 and had a total of 54 rooms, according to online booking sites. The part of the hotel that collapsed was 3 storeys tall.

According to some state media reports, the collapse was initially determined to be caused by the property owner's alteration of the hotel structure.

A hotel guest who checked out on Monday just before the collapsed spoke of loud drilling noises and the sound of the shoveling of sand, according toe Beijing Youth Daily.

The building was shaking, the guest said.

Cities in Jiangsu have since held an emergency meeting on the safety of existing building structures, and called for tougher inspection and supervision.

-reuters-

Death toll rises to 24 in Cambodia building collapse, some still trapped

PHNOM PENH -- At least 24 people were killed and 23 injured after a building in Cambodia collapsed, trapping workers under rubble, officials said on Sunday.

The seven-story concrete building collapsed on Friday in the coastal town of Kep, about 160 km southwest of the capital Phnom Penh.

It came a year after another construction site collapsed, killing 28 people in Preah Sihanouk province.

"Twenty-four people have died so far," Kep governor Ken Satha told Reuters. "Three of the bodies are not yet at hospital, they have not been pulled out yet."

An unknown number of workers remained trapped, Satha said, adding that authorities had detained a Cambodian couple, the owners of the building, for questioning.

Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Saturday that rescuers were still struggling to reach those missing in the rubble.

Cambodia is undergoing a construction boom to serve growing crowds of Chinese tourists and investors.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

4 killed in Cambodia building collapse

KEP, Cambodia—Four people were killed and more than a dozen injured when a 7-storey building under construction collapsed in southern Cambodia on Friday trapping workers under the rubble, an official told AFP, as the search for more victims went into the night.

The building in coastal Kep province was meant to be a hotel but crumpled at around 4:30 p.m., with photos showing concrete floors sandwiched together as heavy machinery moved in to help clear the wreckage.

Cambodian leader Hun Sen said in a Facebook post he was traveling to the site and he arrived late Friday evening.

Sixteen people were injured in addition to the 4 who died, Ros Udong, spokesman for the Kep provincial administration, told AFP by phone.

Deadly accidents plague the kingdom's poorly regulated building sector even as the country has enjoyed a construction boom.

In June, nearly 30 people died after the collapse of a building under construction in Sihanoukville, a beach town undergoing a Chinese investment bonanza.

Last month at least 3 workers died and more than a dozen others were seriously injured after an under-construction dining hall at a temple collapsed in the tourist town of Siem Reap.

There are an estimated 200,000 construction workers in Cambodia, most unskilled, reliant on day wages and not protected by union rules, according to the International Labor Organization.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

10 dead as building struck by car collapses in India

NEW DELHI - Ten people have died after a car crashed into a dilapidated building in central India and brought down the near century-old structure, burying them beneath rubble, police said Sunday.

The freak accident in Indore on Saturday evening is the latest building disaster in a country infamous for poor construction and safety standards.

The driver lost control of his vehicle and struck a pillar holding up the near 100-year-old structure, said police deputy inspector general Harinarayanchari Mishra.

"The impact was such that the entire building collapsed," he told AFP.

"Rescue workers pulled out 12 people from the rubble, 10 of them were already dead. The other 2 are being treated in hospital."

Images from the scene showed battered and bloodied corpses being pulled from twisted piles of brick and concrete. The rubble was being cleared with cranes and industrial equipment.

Building disasters are common in Indian cities where millions are forced to live in cramped, run-down properties due to spiraling real estate prices and a lack of proper housing.

Activists say owners often cut corners on construction to save costs with little regard to safety.

Some 30 people perished in September last year when a 117-year-old apartment building collapsed in India's financial hub of Mumbai.

And in 2013, 60 people were killed when a residential block came crashing down in one of the country's worst housing disasters.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Mumbai building collapse death toll jumps to 33

MUMBAI - The death toll from a building collapse in India's commercial capital Mumbai jumped to 33 Friday after rescuers pulled more than a dozen bodies from the rubble overnight.

Officials said 22 men, eight women and three children died when the residential building gave way on Thursday morning in the densely populated area of Bhendi Bazaar following heavy rains.

The 117-year-old building had been declared unsafe and was due to be demolished as part of a redevelopment project that is transforming Bhendi Bazaar, a scruffy colonial-era market.


"Overnight we pulled out 15 bodies, taking the total death count to 33," Tanaji Kamble, a disaster management spokesman for Mumbai's civic authority, told AFP.

The dead included a 12-year-old boy and two girls aged 11 and 14, he added.

Twelve other people were being treated for injuries at a local hospital, Kamble said.

Rescuers were still picking through the debris on Friday morning in the hope of finding more survivors, 24 hours after the dilapidated building collapsed in one of Mumbai's most historic districts.

It was the latest deadly housing collapse to strike the city, highlighting poor construction standards in India, and came following severe rains that have wreaked havoc in many parts of South Asia.

Building collapses are common in Mumbai, especially during the monsoon season from late June to September, when heavy rains lash the western Indian city, weakening poorly built structures.

Millions are forced to live in cramped, ramshackle properties because of spiraling real estate prices and a lack of housing for the poor.

In 2013, 60 people were killed when a residential block came crashing down in one of Mumbai's worst housing disasters.

Thursday's collapse came after flooding in the city killed 10 people.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Night of horror in London as blaze traps tower dwellers

LONDON - Shaken survivors of a blaze that ravaged a west London tower block told Wednesday of seeing people trapped or jump to their doom as flames raced towards the building's upper floors and smoke filled the corridors.

Hanan Wahabi, 39, who lives on the ninth floor of the 27-storey Grenfell Tower, said she was awoken around 1:00am (0000 GMT) by smoke.

"I could see there was ash coming through the window in the living room, which was partially open," she said, sitting with her husband and son, 16, and daughter, eight, outside a local community center.

"I looked out and I could see the fire travelling up the block. It was literally by my window," she said. "I slammed the window shut and got out."

After the family escaped, she called her brother, who lives on the 21st floor, to see if he was all right.

"The fire hadn't reached the top of the block at that point," Wahabi said.

"He said he had been told to stay inside, stay in one room together and put towels under the door. I told him to leave. He said he was going to come. Then I called him and he said there was too much smoke."

She added: "The last time I saw him they were waving out the window, his wife and children. The last time I spoke to his wife, he was on the phone to the fire brigade. I've not heard from them since, the phone is not going through, the landline isn't going through. That was about 2:00am."

A witness identified as Daniel told BBC Radio London that people on the upper floors were trapped as the flames rose higher and higher.

"People have been burned," he said. "I have seen it with my own eyes. And I have seen people jump."

Another witness named as Jody Martin said he battled his way his way to the second floor only to encounter choking smoke.

"I watched one person falling out, I watched another woman holding her baby out the window... hearing screams, I was yelling everyone to get down and they were saying 'We can't leave our apartments, the smoke is too bad on the corridors'," he said.

'I'M A GONER

 
Another survivor at the community center, wearing shorts, a T-shirts and trainers and with a blanket draped around his shoulders, said he saved his own life with just moments to spare.

"My neighbor's smoke alarm went off and I thought he might have done some cooking," he said, giving only his first name of Eddie, 55.

"I was in bed and I heard people shout fire, fire, I opened my door and loads of smoke came in. Then two seconds later my neighbour (on fifth floor) called and said, 'Get the fuck out the building'!"

"I went into the bathroom and I got the towel and wet it and wrapped it around my head. I run out into the hallway, close the door behind me and ran for where I thought the fire exit was. I didn't find it. It was a matter of life and death -- I thought, 'If I'm in this for another five seconds, I'm a goner'."

"Then on the ground there was a fireman, he touched my leg and pulled me into where the fire stairwell was. You couldn't see anything. I just ran down the stairs. There wasn't that many people on the stairs.

"Loads of people haven't got out of the building."

Abdul Hamid, 51, lives on the 16th floor lost everything he owned but counted himself lucky to be alive.

"I have nothing. My passport was in there -- it's gone. I'm meant to be flying to Saudi Arabia for the Hajj. Now I'm homeless."

ar/ri/dt

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Father's last embrace saves girl in China building collapse

A little girl protected by the embrace of her dead father was the last survivor pulled out of the rubble of collapsed multi-storey buildings in China, reports said Tuesday.

She was found deep in the debris of four six-storey residential buildings more than 12 hours after they crumbled in Wenzhou in the eastern province of Zhejiang, killing at least 22 people, state broadcaster CCTV said.

Three-year-old Wu Ningxi survived with only minor injuries thanks to the protection offered by her young father, who was found dead after shielding her from falling rubble, it added.

"The child was able to survive entirely thanks to the fact that her dad used his own flesh and blood to prop up a life-saving space for his daughter," a rescuer told the China Youth Daily.

The 26-year-old shoe factory worker was found under a thick cement pillar, draped over his daughter.

The family had been buried alive in their living room and the body of Wu's mother was discovered not far from the pair.

Photos showed hard-hatted rescuers lifting the girl's half-naked body from the mess of cement and fallen bricks late Monday, her hair matted with dust as they carried her out and gingerly placed her onto a stretcher.

The search through the three-storey-high debris concluded early Tuesday, the Lucheng district government said at a press conference, with 22 confirmed dead and only five survivors other than the girl rescued.

The cause of the disaster was still under investigation, CCTV said.

Recent heavy rainfall combined with the poor quality of construction and age of the buildings, built by the villagers themselves, were probable contributing factors, it cited a preliminary analysis as saying.

Neighbouring buildings constructed in the 1970s were being demolished to prevent further collapses, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

The buildings had been packed with migrant workers, among them Wu's parents, hundreds of millions of whom have moved from China's countryside to its towns and cities in recent decades, their labour fuelling the country's economic boom.

Many remain poorly paid and face restrictions on buying homes in the areas where they work.

China has seen several building collapses in recent years, with some blamed on low-quality construction.

In May 16 people were reported dead after a residential building in Guizhou province in the southwest collapsed due to landslides.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Six dead in Paris suburb building explosion

BOBIGNY - Six people were killed on Sunday when an explosion ripped through an apartment building outside Paris, reducing half a residential block to rubble, emergency services said.

The bodies of a child described as around 10 years old, a boy aged 14-18 and two women were recovered from the remains of the four-storey building in the northeastern suburb of Rosny-sous-Bois.

Two more bodies were found late in the evening as firefighters continued to comb the wreckage, leaving two other people still unaccounted for, Mayor Claude Capillon said.

Neighbours said the blast, which happened at around 07:00 am (0500 GMT), was strong enough to shake buildings some 100 metres (yards) away.

Early indications were that it was an accidental gas explosion.

"Our house moved, we were trembling from fear," said Pauline, a neighbour, adding that the explosion was so loud that "our ears were ringing".

Ghislaine Poletto, 55, who lives about 50 metres away from the collapsed building, said she "jumped into her trousers" and hurried to the site, where together with neighbours "we managed to pull two children out".

One of the children was "protected by a mattress and a board above his head, which saved his life," she said.

Firefighters said 11 people were injured in the explosion, four of them seriously.

Gaetan de Raucourt, head of the Paris firefighting department, said there was still hope that occupants had found "pockets of air" amid the wood and dusty concrete rubble, which was piled a storey high and fanned out into the street.

"People might be sheltering there. We still have hope of finding survivors," he said.

Emergency crew chief Bernard Tourneur said the search would continue for at least 24 hours with care, since the remainder of the building left standing "is threatening to cave in".

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, who visited the scene, and police initially pointed to a gas leak as a likely cause of the blast.

A fire service commander, Gabriel Plus, said gas and electricity works had been ongoing at the site, but would not confirm their link to the disaster.

GRDF, the company in charge of delivering gas to homes, told AFP that "no leaks had been reported previously" in the area.

Neighbour Maryline Yyvon suggested the explosion was indeed the result of a gas leak. "They'd been digging under the sidewalk just in front of the building," she told AFP.

"Given the force of explosion, it wasn't just a gas canister, that's for sure," she said.

Deputy Mayor Serge Deneulin said the building dates from the 1970s and was "in perfect shape".

City officials set up a makeshift shelter in a nearby school with an on-site medical team for families hit by the blast.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com