Classroom collapses in Northwest China, 15 injured
( 2003-09-24 14:50) (Xinhua)
Fifteen students were injured Tuesday when the detached classroom where they
were having class suddenly collapsed in Huaxian county, in northwest China's
Shaanxi province, school teachers said Wednesday.
Thirty-one students and one teacher were in the timber structure when the
accident occurred at about 10:00 a.m. Tuesday, said an eyewitness, who declined
to be named.
By 6:00 p.m. Tuesday, all the 15 injured students were out of danger, said Xu
Shaohua, president of the Huaxian county hospital, where the students were
treated.
Preliminary investigation pointed to a break in the classroom's main beam due
to long years of negligence and disrepair while the continuous rainfall in the
region was also partly to blame, according to the investigating team.
Provincial Governor Jia Zhibang and provincial Party Secretary Li Jianguo
have ordered local governments to conduct a thorough examination of the
dilapidated schoolhouses in flooded areas to ensure the safety of teachers and
students.
Continuous rainfall has caused severe flooding in more than 50 rivers in
Shaanxi province over a month since Aug. 24, affecting and victimizing over one
million people and claiming at least 64 lives in the province.
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