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Building collapse in Central China kills three; four missing

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-11-18 06:35

CHANGSHA -- Three people are dead after a just-completed office building collapsed early on Monday in a prefecture of central China's Hunan Province, a local government spokesman said.

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Four people remain missing and another four were injured in the collapse which happened at about 2:10 am in Yongshun County, Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture of Tujia and Miao Nationalities.

The new building was an office for a credit cooperative.

A rescue operation is underway and an investigation as to the cause of the collapse has begun.

The same prefecture witnessed a collapse of a bridge under construction a year ago. The 328-meter-long, 42-meter-high bridge over the Tuojiang River in Fenghuang County collapsed on August 13, 2007 when an estimated 123 workers were dismantling steel scaffolding. The accident claimed 64 lives and caused 22 injuries.