Rescue work finished in hotel debris

The Work Safety Committee of the State Council formed a supervision team on Wednesday to monitor the investigation into the collapse of a hotel that claimed the lives of 17 people in Suzhou, Jiangsu province.

The Siji Kaiyuan hotel in Suzhou's Wujiang district collapsed on Monday, burying 23 people.

Rescue work was finished by 9 am on Wednesday, with all victims buried in the debris recovered. The sole unharmed person was sent home, while five others are receiving treatment at the city's No 9 People's Hospital.

The hotel was undergoing structural renovations when it collapsed. Formerly called Shanhu Hotel, it was first put into use in 1991.

The renovations－which had not been approved by the city government－led to the collapse, Xinhua News Agency reported, citing a preliminary investigation by the rescue team at the site.

Jiangsu has formed a team to investigate the incident. Police have summoned and detained some of the owners and operators of the hotel, as well as engineers and people in charge of the renovations.

Lou Qinjian, Party secretary of Jiangsu, visited injured people at the hospital and arranged rescue work. Lou said the accident must be thoroughly investigated and no effort should be spared to save the lives of the injured.

Lou also visited firefighters, police and medical workers who took turns to work 24 hours a day to recover the buried and treat the injured.

Xu Kunlin, Party secretary of Suzhou, told a construction safety management meeting on Tuesday that lessons must be learned to prevent such accidents from happening again.

"The city will take actions quickly to check building safety hazards and establish a long-term mechanism to manage and improve building safety," he said.

More than 650 workers, 120 vehicles, six earthquake rescue teams and five search teams equipped with professional equipment and search dogs from the province's fire departments participated in the rescue work.

With help from the Ministry of Emergency Management, they worked with many departments in Suzhou, including emergency management, public security, and housing and construction, to effectively conduct the rescue work.

All the firefighters at the site removed their hats in silent tribute whenever a body was recovered from the debris.

Many communities in Jiangsu's 13 cities have put up notices asking residents to report building safety hazards.

Huang Yingzi, deputy director of Zhongda Hospital, who is leading the provincial medical team to help treat the injured, said that in addition to medical treatment, psychological counseling will also be provided to the injured and all the relatives of those buried.

The five injured remain in stable condition at hospital, she said.