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Toppled block held up by iron wires: Residents

By Hu Yongqi (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-10-26 08:01

Residents living next to a six-story apartment block that collapsed in Central China's Wuhan claim the building was held together by "steel supports as thin as iron wires".

The block had been under construction in Xinzhou, an old district of the Hubei provincial capital, and toppled at about 9 pm on Friday.

No casualties were reported and a joint investigation team established by the district's work safety and urban management bureaus has been set up to investigate, said a local police officer surnamed Gong.

Results from the probe could be released this week, said Gong, who is helping with the investigation.

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The building owner, surnamed Zhang, did not get approval for the project from the local land planning bureau, and received two suspension notices prior to the collapse, the local Changjiang Daily reported yesterday.

Poor-quality materials and construction were to blame for the incident, the newspaper reported.

"The steel bars exposed are as thin as iron wires," said a man surnamed Zhang, whose home is 100 m from the site. "If the accident had happened during the day, who knows how many people would have been injured or killed?"

He said many residents had rushed out of their homes after the collapse fearing the noise was an earthquake.

The building is in an old neighborhood and only narrow passageways separate the houses.

One resident surnamed Yu, whose house is close to the collapsed building, said the incident had badly damaged his kitchen and severed electricity supply cables. The building had been under construction for two months, he said.

It's not the only building to collapse in China this year.

A 13-story residential building under construction in Shanghai's suburban Minhang district fell over on June 27, killing a migrant worker from Anhui province.

Investigators found that mud piled against one side of the building and excavation for an underground car park on the other toppled the 13-story structure.

It led to experts and citizens to call for better supervision of developers and construction firms.