CHINA> Regional
Subway tunnel earth slides in Hangzhou
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-01-28 17:07

HANGZHOU - No casualties occurred after a block of earth slid under a subway construction tunnel on Monday, said the city government of Hangzhou in east China's Zhejiang Province Wednesday.

A government spokesman confirmed that emergency consolidation measures of the subway tunnel have been taken in the planned Fengqi Station of the Hangzhou No. 1 Subway Line. Steel brackets were added to the structure under construction.

Related readings:
Subway survivors in Hangzhou facing life choices
Hangzhou tunnel toll rises to 7

After the accident, Zhao Hongzhu, secretary of the Zhejiang Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China and Lu Zushan, governor of Zhejiang urged a close monitoring of the stability of the ground and its surrounding buildings.

Authorities have diverted bus routes running through the area until the result of a comprehensive examination of the ground safety is available.

The subway tunnel construction caused tragedy in November when a 75-meter section of the planned Xianghu Station in Hangzhou collapsed, killing 21 people and injured another 24.