Rescuers are searching for 13 workers who went missing after a construction site collapsed in south China on Wednesday.
According to a statement from the emergency management bureau, the incident happened around 11pm local time at a construction site along the Shenzhen-Jiangmen Railway in Bao’an district in southern China.
The railway will connect Shenzhen, a technology hub, with Jiangmen, both located in Guangdong province near Hong Kong.
Nearby residents have been evacuated from their homes and roads leading up to the construction site were closed as rescuers continued their search for the 13 missing men.
An investigation into the cause is underway, local authorities said, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
Construction on the railway section linking Shenzhen and Jiangmen in southern China’s Guangdong province began in 2022.
Industrial accidents are common in China due to weak regulations and poor safety standards. Recent incidents include a mining accident in Sichuan in which eight people lost their lives in August, a gas explosion in Hebei in March in which seven lost their lives and a residential fire in Nanjing in February in which 15 people were killed.
In April 2022, a commercial building collapsed in Changsha killing over 50 people and injuring nine. In October this year, 15 people were sentenced for their roles in the accident. A structural testing firm was fined, and employees were jailed for falsifying safety documents.
Last year in July, a gymnasium roof collapsed at a middle school in Qiqihar killing 11 people, mostly young female volleyball players, and injuring four others.
The collapse was allegedly caused by construction workers storing heavy perlite bags on the roof, which absorbed rainwater, making them heavier, the authorities said at the time. The accident prompted Chinese leader Xi Jinping to call for a nationwide workplace safety campaign.
