The collapse of a stadium on Monday has left three workers in Shenzhen dead and three others injured.
According to the Futian district government, the incident occurred at approximately 11.40am during a controlled demolition. The local government says that an investigation is currently underway.
When the building came down, four workers were trapped underneath the rubble, and by 12.30pm, two had been rescued and taken to a nearby hospital.
The two workers who remained trapped under the collapsed stadium were not hospitalized until hours later when they were finally freed at 4.50pm.
Sadly, three of the laborers succumbed to their injuries in hospital, including a 50-year-old man, surnamed Wang, who was one of the first to be released.
Two other workers who were nearby when the building fell were treated for bone fractures.
South China Morning Post reported that Shenzhen Special Zone Daily released video footage and photos following the incident in which the building’s roof had fallen at an angle towards the ground, the surrounding area filled with emergency vehicles and debris. The moment the stadium fell, however, doesn’t appear to have been captured.
The Shenzhen Special Zone Daily story notes that the collapsed area was used as a basketball court prior to renovation. The interior had since been dismantled, with a number of pillars acting as the only support for the roof.
Screengrab via Weibo
Local government began upgrades on the stadium in 2018. On June 22, they released a notice stating that the renovations would allow the building to accommodate professional sports and high-level athletic competitions. It added that the original stadium was built and funded by the Shenzhen government in 1985 and was due for an upgrade.
SCMP cited a 2018 report by Shenzhen Business Daily, which claims that the government intended to finish the new stadium by June 30, 2020.
It read that the sound equipment and lighting in the old building were out-of-date, and the limited capacity of 6,000 people made it unsuitable for major events. As a result, major international events in the past instead set their eyes on cities like Guangzhou and Zhuhai to play host, or sought out other Shenzhen venues, like Shenzhen Bay Stadium.
The intended expansion would have seen the stadium’s seating capacity rise to 32,000.
The tragic incident was the first of its kind for Shenzhen in recent years, but just last month, five workers in Qingdao were killed when a metro tunnel collapsed.
Shanghai also saw two deadly incidents in May, first when a Mercedes Benz dealership collapsed – also during reconstruction – killing seven, and just one day later when 10 people died as a factory crumbled in Changning district.
READ MORE: 7 Dead After Mercedes Benz Dealership Collapses in Shanghai
[Cover image: screengrab via Weibo]
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