China At least 10 people have been killed and 23 missing after the hotel, which was used as a quarantine for Covid-19 in Fujian province, collapsed.

China's Ministry of Emergency Management yesterday said there were 80 people in the Xinjia Hotel in Quanzhou City, Fujian Province when the building collapsed, of which nine were able to escape. Chinese rescue forces by March 8 removed 48 people from the rubble, of which 10 were killed and the rest were hospitalized.

Xinjia Hotel is one of the two isolated points of Covid-19 in Lich Thanh district. Among those rescued was a boy and his parents. The whole family was later taken to the hospital.

By the time the hotel collapsed on the evening of 7/3, 58 people were being quarantined inside because of close contact with nCoV-infected patients and all gave negative results. There are also 16 hotel staff and 6 auto dealer staff.

Fujian Provincial Fire Department has deployed more than 1,000 firefighters and emergency responders to the scene working overnight to find survivors.

"We are using life signal detectors and professional tools. We are trying our best to save those trapped," said Guo Yutuan, commander of the armed police police mobile unit Tuyen. Chau, said.

The collapsed hotel was a 7-storey building that was built in 2013 and has been converted into a business place since 2018. The owner Yang surnamed the first floor in January.

Workers call their owners at around 19:00 to report a deformed pillar during construction. By 19:30, the hotel collapsed. Yang was arrested by police. Local officials said they will investigate whether the building collapsed due to structural problems or renovation.

On Chinese social networks, many people ask for an investigation. "Quanzhou government must be scrutinized! This is not a natural disaster, but a human-induced disaster!", A commentator. "Must hold responsible people accountable," another said.

"Building a tofu style," some users commented, using the phrase that appeared when the 2008 Sichuan earthquake caused many schools to collapse while other buildings remained standing.