One killed as gymnasium under construction collapses

A construction worker died and 18 others were injured when a building collapsed at a school in east China's Jiangxi Province shortly after midnight, local authorities said.

The accident occurred at around 12:25 a.m. Thursday at an unfinished eight-storey gym at Jiangxi Science and Technology Normal University in the provincial capital of Nanchang, according to the city's publicity bureau.

An investigator from the provincial housing and urban-rural development department told Xinhua the accident may have be caused by a rush to complete the project.

Wang Xiangdong, in charge of the construction, said they had missed the Jan. 27 deadline.

The project was undertaken by the Zhongmei Engineering Group Co, Ltd. based in Jiangxi.