Several dead in China ‘quarantine’ hotel collapse
At least 10 people have died after a hotel collapsed in eastern Fujian province in China, authorities confirmed on Sunday.
Xinjia Hotel in Quanzhou had been used as a quarantine center for people suspected of having coronavirus.
The collapse happened at around 7:30 p.m local time (1130 UTC) on Saturday, authorities said.
A day after the collapse, Quanzhou authorities said that more than 48 of the estimated 70 people who had been in the hotel had been rescued. At least 20 more were still feared trapped.
A team of more than 1,000 people, including firefighters, police forces, and other emergency responders, were sent to the scene.
Rescue efforts continued into Sunday evening with video footage posted online showing workers helping children don surgical masks before pulling from the remains of the 6-story building.
The reason for the collapse has not yet been made public. But the hotel was undergoing renovations of its first floor.
Separate footage appears to show the hotel collapsing in seconds, with the building’s facade crumbling to the ground, exposing the structure’s steel frame.
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Rescue workers continued into the night
‘I can’t contact them’
“I can’t contact them, they’re not answering their phones,” a relative told Reuters news agency, hours after the cave-in.
“I’m under quarantine too [at another hotel] and I’m very worried, I don’t know what to do. They were healthy, they took their temperatures every day, and the tests showed that everything was normal.”
Map showing Quanzhou in China
Quanzhou, a city of 8 million, lies in Fujian province on the mainland side of the Taiwan Strait. The 80-room hotel opened in June 2018 and had a 4.5-star rating on Trip.com.
The province of Fujian had 296 cases of coronavirus and 10,819 people had been placed under observation after being classified as suspected close contacts.
The city is around 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) from Wuhan in Hubei province, where the global COVID-19 outbreak began.
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Global impact
The coronavirus epidemic has consequences for international cultural events. The Art Basel Hong Kong art fair has been canceled. China has downsized its participation in the 70th Berlin International Film Festival. The Chinese National Opera’s New Year’s Concert in Berlin was also canceled; musicians and performers are not allowed to leave because of the coronavirus crisis.
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Empty cultural sites: Coronavirus hits China’s tourism industry
Closed to tourists
Usually, crowds of tourists jostle their way through the Forbidden City. Now, a lonely tourist has Beijing’s Palace Museum all to himself. The city’s imperial palace, built from 1420 to 1644, is considered an architectural masterpiece and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987. It was initially the seat of the Ming and later the Qing dynasty, and where the emperor and his court lived.
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Empty cultural sites: Coronavirus hits China’s tourism industry
Attractions on hold
Disneyland Shanghai has closed its doors to the Magic Kingdom for the time being. The coronavirus outbreak intensified at the start of the Chinese New Year. Subsequent quarantine and travel restrictions caused the annual surge of holiday travel within and to China to collapse. Last year the industry reported a turnover of $78 billion (€71.5 billion) during the weeklong holidays alone.
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Empty cultural sites: Coronavirus hits China’s tourism industry
No access
In the fight against the coronavirus, China’s authorities have not stopped at shutting down historical sites. Parts of the Great Wall of China, a powerful symbol for the country, have been closed off. The section of the wall in Badaling, northern Beijing (photo above), which is highly popular with tourists, is closed. Also closed are the Ming graves and the Yinshan Pagoda.
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Empty cultural sites: Coronavirus hits China’s tourism industry
Dragon dance
Spring in Shenyang in 2019: A dance group performs a dragon dance on the occasion of the Longtaitou Festival, when China celebrates the second day of the second month in the Chinese lunar calendar. It is known as “the day when the dragon raises its head,” and the country and nature regain strength. This year, it falls on February 24, but the coronavirus epidemic could put a damper on events.
ed/mm (Reuters, AFP)
Article source: https://www.dw.com/en/several-dead-in-china-quarantine-hotel-collapse/a-52677110?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf