Building that collapsed reported unsafe in December

Shen Dailu is saved from the rubble on Friday afternoon after a residential building collapsed in Fenghua, Zhejiang province, in the morning. [Photo by Zhang Peijian/for China Daily]

A building that collapsed in Fenghua, Zhejiang province, on Friday morning killing a woman, was registered as "unsafe" in December but no remedial measures were taken.

The woman was among seven people trapped after the five-story residential building crumbled to the ground at 8:45 am. All were pulled from the debris by the evening, but Chen Yuexiang, 68, died at a hospital.

Her 21-year-old granddaughter Shen Dailu survived after being trapped for about nine hours under a concrete slab. Shen and five other survivors were still receiving hospital treatment on Friday night.

Fifteen families were living in the collapsed section of the building, which was built in 1994. Residents in the remaining section and buildings nearby were evacuated, local authorities said.

Tong Aidi, 60, who lives in a building next door, said, "People were running and shouting that the building was going to collapse and suddenly it came down."

Tong said buildings in her neighborhood were partly damaged in October when Typhoon Fitow hit the city.

"I'd heard that the government was working on a plan to enhance the building, but it crumbled before it started to do anything," she said.

Most residents in the community, where the buildings are old and housing prices comparatively low, are elderly people, migrant workers and those from the countryside, according to a relative of Shan Jianlin, one of the survivors.

Shan, 40, was the sixth to be pulled from the debris. His sister said Shan bought an apartment in the building after getting married.

Local media said residents had reported cracks in a wall. Some windows and doors could not be closed properly, as the frames were twisted, the reports said.