3 killed in S China workshop collapse

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-05-01 13:37

GUANGZHOU -- Three workers were confirmed dead and nine others injured when a workshop collapsed Thursday in south China's Guangdong Province, witnesses and the local government said Friday.

The accident happened at around 2:30 pm at an embroidery plant in Xintang town of Zengcheng, a city near Guangzhou. Witnesses said they heard a bang and saw thick smokes and dust.

"I saw several workers running out of the place, panic-stricken and crying for help," said a man surnamed Li, who works for a molding factory nearby. "I asked them what was going on. Unable to utter a word, they just pointed to their damaged workshop, which was in a mess with toppled walls and ceiling, broken spinners and people crying."

Two workers died on the spot, including a 24-year-old man from Guangdong and a 30-year-old woman from the neighboring Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Another worker died at hospital Thursday night.

The nine injured workers are still in hospital Friday.

Investigators said the plant's next-door neighbor, a printing company, was to blame for the accident.

"The printing company is under renovation and began removing its roof on Wednesday," said a resident surnamed Wang, who claimed to have seen five workers trying to dismantle the roof with hammers. "Tragically, the other roof collapsed."

The two companies both operate in rented facilities, a row of six old warehouses that belonged to a local cereal firm.