4 killed as hotel used as quarantine facility collapses in China

Beijing: Four people were killed after a hotel used as a quarantine facility for coronavirus suspects collapsed in south east China's Fujian province, official media reported on Sunday as authorities pulled out 42 people from the debris.

Around 71 people were trapped in the hotel that collapsed on Saturday in Quanzhou city of the province.

The hotel was used to quarantine and observe people who had come to the province during the novel coronavirus prevention and control and had come in contact with the virus patients.

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"Four people were dead, 42 others were rescued from the collapsed hotel in Quanzhou, SE China's Fujian, which trapped 71 people," State-run People's Daily, China tweeted on Sunday.

The accident happened on Saturday night during a house modification operation and the owner of the building is currently under police control, it said.

Currently, Chinese cities are quarantining people returning to their homes and workplaces after two-week holidays to ensure they are not infected with the deadly virus.

The Xinjia hotel collapsed around 7:15 p.m. in Licheng district of the city.

It was in operation since 2018 and had 80 rooms.

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Among the rescued, a two-year-old boy and his parents were pulled out from the rubble and sent to hospital for treatment, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

City's fire department has sent more than 200 fire fighters to the site, while the province dispatched 11 search and rescue teams with over 800 fire fighters and seven rescue dogs, the report said.

The Ministry of Emergency Management has sent a work team to Quanzhou to help with rescue and investigate the cause of the collapse.

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The ministry has called for all-out efforts to rescue the victims and emphasized on the prevention of secondary disasters, while ensuring the safety of rescue teams.

The novel virus originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December last year and has claimed over 3,000 lives in the country.

Apart from China, over 3,400 people have died of the deadly disease and over 101,000 have been infected from the virus globally.

PTI

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