At least 11 people are confirmed dead after the roof of a gymnasium collapsed at a middle school in North China.
Aerial footage below shows the aftermath of the collapsed roof:
The fatal collapse occurred on Sunday, July 23 at No. 34 Middle School in the city of Qi Qi Ha’er in northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province – approximately 300 kilometers northwest of provincial capital Harbin.
According to Jiupai News, a girls’ volleyball team was using the gymnasium during the summer holidays at the time of the collapse.
A total of 19 people were inside the building at the time, all of which have been accounted for, as of approximately 10am today, July 24, reports CCTV.
Of the 19 people, four escaped alive by themselves, five were pronounced dead at the scene, six died after being taken to hospital and four remain in critical condition.
There has been anger, confusion and distress among many of the deceased’s parents. Jiupai News reports that some parents waited in a nearby hospital for up to five hours without any information of their children’s whereabouts. Some parents were only informed that their children were in the hospital after they were pronounced dead.
A video going viral on Chinese social media shows a father of one of the deceased addressing a group of parents inside a hospital. The father angrily complains about the lack of information and berates those in charge for failing to take responsibility.
[Cover image via Weibo/@DK-meta]
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