Chinese police have detained nine people for allegedly being responsible for the collapse of a building on Friday in Chansha, leaving dozens of people buried or missing, the police and local media announced.
Police said they had arrested three people responsible for the design and construction of the building and five others who allegedly carried out a false security assessment for the pension, which operated in the building that collapsed, reports the Associated Press (AP) news agency.
On Saturday, authorities had detained the owner of the building, which also housed a cinema, shops, restaurants and apartments, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.
The owner was accused of illegally adding several extra floors and making modifications to the building’s structure.
According to local police, Hunan Xiangda Engineering Testing Co. will have issued a false security report on April 13th.
By the end of Saturday, the authorities had managed to rescue five people, with 20 still arrested and another 39 missing.
More than 700 soldiers remain in the rescue operations, with a senior Chinese Communist Party official having been sent to the scene, which could be a sign of the severity of the disaster.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping called for “every possible effort” to save people still buried and ordered an investigation into the disaster.
Chinese authorities have launched a national campaign to reduce the risks posed by illegally constructed buildings.
This type of disaster occurs with some frequency in China, due to failure to comply with safety rules and the ease of inspection services that should guarantee the correct application of construction standards.
In January, an explosion triggered by an alleged gas leak caused a building in the western city of Chongqing to collapse, killing more than a dozen people.
In July 2021, 17 people died in a hotel collapse in a tourist area of Jiangsu, in eastern China.