A 5-Storey Hotel In China Has Collapsed. It Was Being Used To Quarantine COVID-19 Patients
Some 70 or so people were said to be trapped under the rubble of the building.
By Sadho Ram — 08 Mar 2020, 12:09 PM
In an incident that happened late Saturday 7 March, a five-storey hotel collapsed in the southeast Chinese port city of Quanzhou.
The hotel was being used a quarantine facility for COVID-19 patients.
Rescuers search for survivors in the rubble of the collapsed hotel.
Image via AFP photo via New Straits TimesOne woman's relatives including her sister had been under quarantine at the hotel. She said that she hasn't been able to contact them.
I can't contact them, they're not answering their phones.
According to Business Insider, the woman is also under quarantine at another hotel.
"I'm under quarantine too [at another hotel] and I'm very worried, I don't know what to do. They were healthy, they took their temperatures every day, and the tests showed that everything was normal," the woman, who identified herself only as Chen, was reported as saying.
Some 70 or so people were said to be trapped under its rubble
Four hours after the collapse, 48 of those trapped were rescued. But two people are dead.
According to BBC, rescue workers in orange overalls were seen clambering over the rubble and twisted steelwork of the building in the southern province of Fujian while carrying people towards ambulances.
Despite the rescue efforts by emergency workers, dozens still remain trapped under the wreckage.
Opened in June 2018, the hotel reportedly had 80 guest rooms
According to Chinese state media, Global Times, the hotel was being used as a quarantine facility to monitor people who were in close contact with coronavirus patients.
Rescuers on the site said that all parts of the building collapsed with one of the witnesses saying that he heard a loud noise when he was having dinner at his house opposite to the hotel.
The witness told another Chinese media, Fujian Daily, that at first, he thought it was an explosion, but when he ran to the balcony, he saw the entire building collapsing, reported Global Times.
Reuters reported that people are now demanding an investigation into how the hotel could have collapsed. As of now, it is not clear what caused the collapse.
