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Poor construction blamed for Shanghai building collapse

By Hou Lei (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2009-06-30 13:51

Improper construction methods are believed to be the reason of last Saturday's building collapse in Shanghai, according to a report from the investigation team.

A nearly-finished 13-story apartment building in the Lotus Riverside complex in suburban Shanghai toppled over Saturday, killing one worker.

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The investigation team's report said that workers dug an underground garage on one side of the building while on the other side earth was heaped up to 10 meters high, which was apparently an error in construction, according to a report on eastday.com, Shanghai's official news website.

"Any construction company with common sense would not make such a mistake," said an expert from the investigation team.

Earlier this week, there were also reports saying that cracks on the flood-prevention wall near the building, as well as the special geological condition in the water bank area, may be part of the reason for the collapse.

"These factors are not the basic reason of this accident," said the expert.

Nine people linked to the building collapse, including the real estate developer, contractor and the supervisor for the project, have been put "under appropriate control", said the official Xinhua News Agency Sunday evening.