Grim search after deadly collapse

At least 10 people were killed when a six-story hotel used as a coronavirus quarantine center collapsed in Fujian and rescuers continued to search overnight for survivors, the Ministry of Emergency Management said yesterday.

When the Xinjia Express Hotel collapsed at around 7.15pm on Saturday, 58 of the 71 trapped people were being quarantined at the hotel in Quanzhou, a coastal city in Fujian.

They had recently visited regions hard-hit by Covid-19 but tested negative for the virus. The city of Quanzhou has recorded 47 cases of the virus.

As of 4pm yesterday, 48 people were rescued and 10 were confirmed dead. Firemen were still trying to rescue 23 trapped.

Videos showed rescuers putting surgical masks on children - including a 12-year-old boy and an infant - as they were pulled from the rubble.

"My mum was beside my leg, she is alive," the 12-year-old immediately said when he was lifted out.

Rescuers were also shown spraying disinfectant on each other as part of a "strict decontamination" procedure between shifts.

Footage posted by local media, purportedly from security cameras across the street, showed the hotel collapse in seconds.

Other videos on Weibo showed rescue workers combing through the rubble in the dark as they reassured a woman trapped under heavy debris and carried other injured people to ambulances.

The building's facade appeared to have crumbled to the ground, exposing the structure's steel frame. Its first floor has been undergoing renovation since before the Lunar New Year and construction workers called the hotel's owner minutes before the collapse to report a deformed pillar, according to the ministry.

Built in 2013 and converted to a hotel in 2018, the building's owner has been summoned by police and local authorities are still determining whether it was the renovation or a structural issue that caused the collapse, the ministry said, adding that more than 1,000 people have been deployed in rescue efforts.

China's National Health Commission has sent 38 medical experts from the nearby cities of Fuzhou and Xiamen to Quanzhou. Another four national experts are also being sent there.

Meanwhile, mainland authorities yesterday reported 44 new confirmed cases, among which 41 were in Wuhan.

The other three were imported cases, with two in Beijing and one in Gansu. Another 27 deaths were reported, all in Hubei.

National Health Commission spokesman Mi Feng said it is the first time the country has seen no new domestic cases outside Hubei - an indication that the anti-virus measures are effective.

The mainland has seen 80,695 confirmed cases and 3,097 deaths so far.