On Wednesday, April 13, an 80-ton crane was brought down during a thunderstorm, collapsing on a temporary construction site in Dongguan – killing 18 people and severely injuring 18 others, reports CCTV news.
The crane landed on a shed made out of shipping containers – a shed that housed 139 sleeping workers, 88 of whom managed to escape on their own. When the crane fell it also brought with it a gantry – which landed on a nearby two-story building.
“We have assigned personnel to cope with the aftermath of the accident and to comfort the relatives of the dead and injured one by one. The company which takes responsibility for the construction work has allocated a special fund of 20 million yuan (3.1 million U.S. dollars) to deal with the aftermath issue,” said deputy secretary-general of Dongguan municipal government. “We will do our best to make sure that the injured acquire medical treatment and to solve relevant difficulties.”
The construction site is a project by Fourth Harboring Engineering, a subsidiary of the state-owned China Communication Construction Company, according to SCMP.
In the aftermath of this accident, Netizens have questioned why the hefty crane was placed next to a shed housing workers – especially in extreme weather. Guangdong has been beaten upon by heavy downpour, thunderstorms and gales in the past three days and cities like Zhaoqin have reported flooding and winds strong enough to knocked over trees.
[Image via Xinhuanet.com]
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