9 held over building collapse in Chinese city of Changsha as rescuers ‘race against time’ to find survivors
- Police in Changsha say those detained include the owner of the property and 3 who were in charge of reconstruction work
- A letter, apparently written by the ‘heartbroken and helpless’ parents of students at a local university, appeals for help in finding the missing
In a brief statement, police in Changsha, the capital city of Hunan province, said the owner of the building, as well as three people who were in charge of the building’s reconstruction work, had been detained over Friday’s collapse.
Another five people, all employees of a local engineering test firm, were also taken into custody on the suspicion of providing false documents, police said.
No casualty figures have been released, but Communist Party newspaper People’s Daily reported on Sunday night that a seventh survivor had been rescued.
Another 16 remain trapped under the rubble, according to figures released by Zheng Jianxin, the mayor of Changsha, on Sunday.
Meanwhile, a further 39 people were uncontactable after the incident.
Wen Xianghui, the political commissar of the Changsha Fire Brigade, told CCTV on Sunday evening that rescue personnel were working in very difficult conditions because the adjacent buildings were also “severely damaged and could collapse at any time”.