Illegal two-story building collapses, 4 dead

Government authorities are currently investigating an accident, where four workers were killed and six injured at a construction site in Chaoyang district when a two-story illegal building collapsed suddenly at noon Saturday.

The 10 construction workers were at a site in Shibalidian village, and the six injured are currently in stable condition after emergency medical treatment at the Chiyangliu Hospital in Chaoyang, according to the hospital yesterday.

Witnesses told the Beijing News the building, which was still unfinished, was constructed crudely and quickly and collapsed within seconds.

"It was like an earthquake and suddenly I could see nothing but dust," a worker at the site told the paper.

The accident had some 100 rescue workers on site including firefighters and medical staff.

Government authorities, including the Beijing Administration of Work Safety and Chaoyang district government, have set up a team to look into the case, and said the two-story building was an illegal structure.

Rescue efforts took more than two hours, and all those buried in the ruins were found by 4 pm, the Chaoyang district firefighting team told the Global Times.

The office director of Beijing Administration of Work Safety, surnamed Kang, told the Global Times the team was still conducting investigations at the scene yesterday afternoon.

However, Kang refused to comment on the cause of the collapse, who might be held responsible for the illegal construction or the accident.