43 rescued after hotel collapses in China

Forty-three people have been rescued after a hotel building collapsed in east China's Fujian Province Saturday evening, local authorities said.

The Xinjia Hotel collapsed around 7:15 p.m. in Licheng District of the city of Quanzhou. The hotel opened in 2018 and had 80 rooms, the Xinhua news agency reported.

According to a preliminary report, about 70 people were trapped.

Local fire department of Quanzhou City has sent more than 200 fire fighters to the site, while Fujian Province dispatched 11 search and rescue teams with over 800 fire fighters and seven rescue dogs.

Among the 43 people who had been rescued as of 12:30 a.m. Sunday, a child aged two or three years old was pulled from the rubble by rescue workers in the early hours of the morning.

The Ministry of Emergency Management has sent a work team to Quanzhou to help with rescue and investigate the cause of accident. The ministry urged all-out efforts to rescue the victims and emphasised the prevention of secondary disasters, while ensuring the safety of rescue teams.

Further rescue is under way. Quanzhou had a population of 8.7 million by the end of 2018, according to the city government's official website.