Eleven people were killed when the ceiling of a school gymnasium in northeast China collapsed as a girls’ volleyball team was practicing, according to official media.
Many of the victims are youngsters, according to eyewitnesses, though this has yet to be formally confirmed.
Anxious parents have flocked to a local hospital for updates.
Only eight of the 19 people who were inside the gym in Heilongjiang’s industrial province survived.
According to local media, police have detained the owners of a local construction firm.
They have been accused of dropping perlite, a type of volcanic glass, on the gym’s roof while working on a neighboring construction project.
The mineral had absorbed moisture after heavy downpours, causing the roof to collapse around 15:00 local time (07:00 GMT).
As rescue workers scraped through the wreckage in Qiqihar city, the coach of the middle school’s girls’ volleyball team was heard shouting out the kids’ names, according to China National Radio.
Parents have chastised school administrators, alleging a breakdown in communication throughout the rescue operation, which lasted until Monday morning.
“They say my daughter is gone, but we never got to see her.” When the youngsters were taken to the hospital, their faces were all smeared in muck and blood. I begged you to let me identify the youngster. “What if that wasn’t my child?” one guy said in a video that went viral on social media.
“What were the authorities doing four, five, or even six hours after the children were admitted to the hospital?” … The physicians are not communicating with us regarding the status of the rescue.
“We have elderly people at home; we need to help them prepare mentally.” Doctors, police officers, and other government officials are present. “But we haven’t heard from you,” he continued.
Many people on social media across the nation mirrored the father’s worries in the video, criticizing how the police and authorities at the site treated concerned parents.
“Do people mean nothing to them?” one irate user wondered.
Others questioned why perlite was on the gym’s roof in the first place. “The cost of breaking the law is too low in this country; people don’t have any respect for the law; that’s the key reason,” another person remarked.
Construction accidents are widespread in China, and they have been attributed to weak safety regulations and ineffective enforcement.
In June, at least 31 people were killed in an explosion at a barbecue restaurant in northwest China. According to early findings, the incident happened while a restaurant employee was repairing a damaged valve on a liquefied gas tank.
A fire at a Beijing hospital in April killed 29 people and forced some desperate survivors to flee by leaping out the windows.
