BEIJING (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th March, 2020) The death toll from last week's Xinjia Express hotel collapse in China's eastern Fujian province has risen to 20, while 10 people remain trapped under the debris, Chinese Emergency Management Vice-Minister Shang Yong said at a press conference on Tuesday.
"As of 9.00 a.m. [01:00 GMT], 61 people managed to be pulled out from the rubble, 20 of them were killed, 41 were injured, and 10 more remain under the rubble," Shang told reporters.
A search-and-rescue operation is underway.
The hotel, which housed people who had contact with coronavirus patients, came down in the city of Quanzhou on Saturday. Around 70 people were initially trapped under the debris. The hotel had isolated citizens from areas of the dire coronavirus epidemic, such as Hubei and Wenzhou in Zhejiang. The hotel guests were neither infected nor even suspected to be infected. They were compulsorily quarantined, as they could have potentially been in close contact with the coronavirus patients.
