Four dead in China quarantine hotel collapse

Four people have died in the collapse of a hotel in the Chinese city of Quanzhou that was being used to quarantine individuals.

Four people have died in the collapse of a hotel in the Chinese city of Quanzhou that was being used to quarantine individuals under observation for the coronavirus.

The hotel began to collapse on Saturday evening. As of 10:30 am Beijing time on Sunday, authorities had retrieved 42 individuals from the site, the Ministry of Emergency Management said.

Of that total, four have been confirmed dead, four have severe injuries, and one remains in critical condition, it said.

News of the collapse comes as the spread of COVID-19 continues to slow in China. According to data from China’s National Health Commission, cases fell by more than a half on Saturday from the day before.

The agency confirmed 44 new cases of the COVID-19 coronavirus as at the end of March 7, a decline from 99 the previous day.

The fall comes as Chinese cities gradually relax quarantine measures put in place over a month ago, while authorities keep a close watch on the virus’ spread overseas.

Of the 44 new confirmed cases, 41 were discovered in Wuhan, the origin of the virus’ outbreak and its hotbed.

The remaining three were cases imported from outside mainland China. This marks the second consecutive day in which all of China’s newly confirmed cases outside of the city of Wuhan originated from overseas. The three cases bring China’s total imported case count to 63.

As the virus slows its spread in Wuhan, authorities have reacted by closing hospitals built specifically to house its patients.

After the first such closure last week, on Sunday, CCTV reported that operations at a second hospital had been suspended, with its 25 remaining patients now discharged and declared cured.

China’s quarantine hotel collapses

Earlier, officials said around 70 people were initially trapped when the building first crumbled.

Footage circulating on microblogging platform Weibo showed rescue workers combing through the rubble of the 80-room Xinjia hotel in coastal Quanzhou city in the dark as they reassured a woman trapped under heavy debris and carried wounded victims into ambulances.

A total of 43 people have so far been rescued from the wreckage, state news agency Xinhua said.

Rescuers search for survivors in the rubble of a collapsed hotel in Quanzhou.

The hotel’s facade appeared to have crumbled into the ground, exposing the building’s steel frame, and a crowd gathered as the evening wore on.

Officials have yet to confirm whether anyone died in the accident. China’s Ministry of Emergency Management said some 200 local and 800 Fujian Province firefighters had been deployed to the scene along with 11 search and rescue teams and seven rescue dogs, according to Xinhua.

Rescuers work in the rubble of a collapsed hotel in Quanzhou.

Quanzhou authorities said ambulances, excavators and cranes had also been rushed to the site.

Representatives from Beijing are also en route to Quanzhou to assist in relief efforts, Xinhua reported.

Quanzhou has recorded 47 cases of the COVID-19 infection and the hotel, which opened just two years ago, was recently repurposed to house people who had been in recent contact with confirmed patients, the People’s Daily state newspaper reported.

China is no stranger to building collapses and deadly construction accidents, which are typically blamed on the country’s rapid growth leading to corner-cutting by builders and the widespread flouting of safety rules.

At least 20 people died in 2016 when a series of crudely-constructed multi-storey buildings packed with migrant workers collapsed in the eastern city of Wenzhou.

Another 10 were killed last year in Shanghai after the collapse of a commercial building during renovations.