The roof of a fitness center in a county in northeastern China collapsed, resulting in the deaths of three junior high school students and two injuries. It is currently unclear whether the second roof collapse accident of the sports stadium that occurred in Northeast China in more than three months was caused by an artificial "tofu residue" project or purely due to severe weather and heavy snow. However, observers point out that the quality issues in the Chinese construction industry are worrying, and accidents caused by subsequent quality reasons may continue to be exposed. If the authorities do not take effective measures to remedy them, more innocent people may be destroyed.
According to a report released by the official Chinese media Xinhua News Agency on the 7th, on the 6th, 7 middle school students from Huanan County, Jiamusi City made an appointment at around 18:00 to play basketball at the Yuecheng Sports Club. At around 19:20, a student noticed an abnormality in the roof and ran towards the door, causing the roof to collapse. According to the report, three people escaped on their own after the incident, of which two were not injured and one was promptly sent to the hospital for treatment; Four people were trapped, one person was rescued at around 19:50 and sent to the hospital for treatment. The other three people were rescued but died after ineffective hospital treatment. At present, the two hospitalized students have minor injuries and are not life-threatening.
According to reports from Chinese media, the gymnasium where the accident occurred belongs to the New Sunshine Fitness Club in Huanan County, and the club manager has been controlled by the police.
The sound of the gym collapsing is like an earthquake or explosion
According to the video released on the Chinese social media Tiktok, people in the residential building next to the collapsed stadium said in the video, "Catch up with (like) an earthquake, explode, and bang", "I hope there are no casualties!".
In another video, a woman said, "There is a table tennis club in Yuecheng, and the entire roof has collapsed. People are falling under the snow. It's downstairs in my house, just like an earthquake, and it's like a rumble
A man said in another video, "Yuecheng exploded, there were people inside, it's all over. (One child said, I'm scared to death!). The cars underneath were smashed
An unconfirmed video circulating online shows a middle-aged woman running frantically towards the collapsed gym and shouting, "Where is my son
Three students died in condemnation
A woman working in a restaurant not far from the collapse of the gym told VOA that three students had died, and the surrounding area of the gym had been sealed off. Pedestrians and vehicles were strictly prohibited from entering and exiting the accident site and surrounding areas.
Reporter: "The report says that three people died
Interviewee: "Yes
Reporter: "And injured two people
Interviewee: "I'm not very sure. It's normal for us to have dinner (here), nothing else is delayed, just sealing off the surroundings (at the accident scene)
The owner of a hotel near the accident site also told VOA reporters that everyone was discussing the collapse of the Yuecheng Sports Center. They could see emergency vehicles and people coming and going at the accident site, but apart from knowing that three people were killed, they did not know the cause of the accident or the specific situation of rescue efforts.
Reporter: "According to online reports, three students have already died, haven't they
Interviewee: "It seems like so. It seems that there are many people (going to rescue), but we don't know the details... The rescue has ended, and (the surrounding area) has been blocked. They are not allowed to enter. They are surrounded, and some people are watching. They cannot go to the scene
A duty officer from the Huanan County Sports and Tourism Bureau told VOA that after the accident, leaders at all levels of the county bureau attached great importance and convened an emergency meeting of relevant personnel to discuss measures to deal with the collapse accident and related issues.
Reporter: "The report has come out, and three people have died. Are these three people all students
Interviewee: "That's right, right? I just arrived and I'm not very familiar with the situation. I'm afraid I made a mistake, it's not good... Our leaders have all gone to the county for an emergency meeting. If you have any specific information, please call our county propaganda department
The duty officer said that he was not authorized to disclose relevant information about the accident and suggested that the reporter contact the county propaganda department. However, the VOA reporter repeatedly called the Huanan County Propaganda Department, but no one answered them.
The official Chinese media Xinhua News Agency reported on the accident, stating that after the roof collapse accident of Yuecheng Sports Club in Huanan County, "the disciplinary inspection and supervision organs at the levels of Jiamusi City and Huanan County immediately intervened and established an investigation team to conduct an investigation
Former key projects and current headache accidents
It is reported that Yuecheng Sports Club is a part of Yuecheng Plaza. Yuecheng Square is a key investment attraction project of the county government, which started construction in May 2016 with an investment of over 400 million yuan. It is a multi-functional commercial complex that integrates shopping malls, leisure, residential, and other functions.
Xinhua News Agency said that Building 7, a complex owned by Yuecheng Sports Club, has a construction area of 3208.96 square meters and a height of 9.05 meters. It passed the construction acceptance in July 2020. The eastern part is a two-story building with a concrete roof structure. The western part is a single story building (with a collapsed area of 675 square meters), and the roof structure is an H-shaped variable cross-section steel beam structure. The New Sunshine Fitness Club in Huanan County has been managing this gymnasium since December 2022. It is operated for the public and is mainly used for activities such as basketball, table tennis, and badminton.
The investor of Yuecheng Square is believed to be Beijing Yaoyintong Technology Co., Ltd. Wu Liqian is the final legal representative, and the winning construction parties are Heilongjiang Haifeng Weiye Construction and Installation Engineering Co., Ltd. and Heilongjiang Huayou Construction Engineering Co., Ltd.
Is it a natural disaster? Is it a man-made disaster?
Prior to the collapse of the roof of Yuecheng Sports Club in Huanan County, Northeast China, including Jiamusi, had recently suffered a rare and severe snowstorm, and the meteorological department issued a red warning for the blizzard.
China's "New Beijing News" quoted Wu Jiming, a senior architect of the Beijing Institute of Architecture, as saying that when it snows, the snow melts and freezes while stacking. The larger the snow, the thicker the stacking. He said that if the melted snow water cannot be discharged in a timely manner, its weight will become heavier and heavier, and due to uneven ice accumulation on the roof, individual points will be heavily stressed. Wu Jiming suggests that relevant departments should conduct safety inspections on large-span spaces and other areas before extreme weather such as blizzards,
On July 23 this year, the roof of the 34th Middle School Gymnasium in Qiqihar City, Heilongjiang Province collapsed, resulting in the death of 11 women's volleyball players and coaches, and 4 injuries. After investigation by relevant departments, the direct cause of the accident was the illegal stacking of perlite materials on the roof of the gymnasium by the school construction unit, which was unevenly placed. After long-term immersion and weight gain of 10 times, the roof collapsed. This tragedy is believed to have been caused by human error, as both the construction, supervision, and school parties have ignored the existence of this deadly danger.
The county magistrate just checked the safety work of the sports hall
Chinese officials have always attached great importance to safety work after sudden major liability accidents. According to the website of the Huanan County Government, after the tragic roof collapse of the 34th Middle School Gymnasium in Qiqihar City, Cheng Xianfeng, Deputy Secretary of the Huanan County Party Committee and County Mayor of the government, visited the Yuecheng Gymnasium to inspect the implementation of safety work. However, it is ironic that the sports hall, which was inspected by the county magistrate, experienced a partial collapse accident more than three months later.
Political commentator and independent scholar Wu Zuolai, who lives in California, told VOA that this is the second public building collapse in the Northeast, and it should not be caused by snow. Because if it snows heavily, we will see many buildings collapse due to heavy snowfall, so heavy snowfall cannot explain the reason.
The reason can only be the quality of public buildings, which were built ten or twenty years ago and cut corners, and that's the only reason
For Wu Zuo, behind the cutting corners, there is a reflection of a large amount of corruption and kickbacks in the construction industry. He said that if the construction party does not cut corners, there will be no profit. If the construction party has a government background, the testing, supervision, and supervision of the project can all be "greeted" and approved, so it is difficult to ensure the quality of the project.
This China issue observer pointed out that the negative aspects of China's reform and opening up over the years are emerging. The collapse of the Jiamusi Huanan Sports Center is not isolated, and in the future, triggered by external factors such as strong winds, blizzards, small earthquakes, etc., there may be continuous incidents of public or civil building collapses.
For Wu Zuo, the collapse of the roof of the gymnasium, which was once inspected for safety by the mayor of Huanan County, indicates that it is useless for leaders to just "look" at it. If they are truly responsible for the safety of the people's lives, strict regulations should be introduced to "check" the relevant responsible persons for construction buildings, such as twenty or thirty years, in order to warn future generations. In addition, he said that the authorities need to publicly recruit independent supervision agencies to inspect existing buildings in order to prevent similar tragic disasters from happening again.