Quarantine hotel in China crumbles in seconds, 10 killed, Latest World News - The New Paper
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Quarantine hotel in China crumbles in seconds, 10 killed

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BEIJING: At least ten people were killed in the collapse of a hotel used as a coronavirus quarantine facility in eastern China, the authorities said yesterday.

Rescuers retrieved 48 people from the rubble, of whom 38 are still alive, the Ministry of Emergency Management said on social media.

The building in the coastal city of Quanzhou had been repurposed to house people who recently had contact with patients confirmed with Covid-19, the state-run People's Daily newspaper reported.

The city has recorded 47 cases of the virus.

Footage published by local media appears to show the hotel collapsing in seconds.

The building's facade appeared to have crumbled to the ground, exposing the structure's steel frame.

A video posted online by the ministry's firefighting department showed rescuers helping children don surgical masks before pulling them from the wreckage of the six-storey Xinjia Hotel, including a 12-year-old boy.

Rescuers were also seen spraying disinfectant on one another as part of "strict decontamination" measures between shifts.

Other videos circulating on Weibo show workers combing through the rubble in the dark as they reassure a woman trapped under heavy debris and carry injured people to ambulances. - AFP

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