Death toll rises to five in east China subway tunnel collapse
17/11/2008 17:30
Rescuers today found the body of one of the 17 workers who were missing
after Saturday's collapse at a subway construction site in east China's Zhejiang
Province, bringing the confirmed death toll to five.
The search continued for
the 16 others, said Wang Guangrong, chief of the rescue operation at the
scene.
"There is a slim chance for the trapped workers to survive, because of
heavy flooding," said Wang. Water from a nearby river rushed into the tunnel,
rising as high as 6m at one point.
The incident happened at 3:20 p.m. when a
75-m section of a tunnel under construction collapsed in Xiaoshan District,
trapping about 50 workers and 11 vehicles. The cause of the collapse is being
investigated.
Most of the trapped workers were saved. At last count, the
number of injured was 24, all of whom were initially hospitalized. Eleven of the
injured have been discharged.
All those in the trapped vehicles
survived.
About 1,000 police and fire fighters have been taking part in the
rescue, using more than 60 pieces of heavy equipment. They have pumped most of
the water out of the tunnel.
New cracks, however, were spotted near the
caved-in section. Measures were taken to prevent secondary disasters, said
Wang.
Chengxi Primary School of Xiaoshan District, which is near the site,
was closed for three days starting today.
The contractor, China Railway
Construction Group Co, Ltd, halted all subway construction work in the city for
safety checks, said the group's vice president, Bai Zhongren.
Xinhua
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