SHANGHAI: A 13-floor apartment building under construction collapsed Saturday morning in Shanghai, killing one worker.
Witnesses said the whole building started to fall down at about 5:30 am on Saturday and a 28-year-old worker surnamed Xiao from Anhui province was buried in the collapse and killed, the Xinhua news agency reported. No other casualties are reported.
A 13-floor apartment building under construction collapses in Minhang district, Shanghai Saturday morning June 27, 2009, killing one worker. [Xinhua]
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Zhang Supong, a witness across a river to the collapsed building, said his family and neighbors were shocked when they felt the earth shake in the morning.
"It was just like an earthquake," he told China Daily, adding there was no visual damage in his apartment.
The authorities have ordered suspension of the construction and a thorough investigation of the collapse.
A man, who is in his 30s and declined to be named, told China Daily that he just bought an apartment beside the collapse building and with this accident, he would terminate the contract with the property developers.
The apartment building is at a premium location in Shanghai, about five metro stops from downtown areas, and is sold at a price of 18,000 yuan per sq m.
Local media reported on Friday that some cracks appeared on the anti-flood bank near the collapsed building, but the cause of the cracks was also uncertain.