14 dead in East China shoe factory collapse

HANGZHOU -- Fourteen people have been confirmed dead as bodies of the last two known buried under the debris of a collapsed shoe factory building in East China's Zhejiang Province on Saturday were recovered, local government said Monday.

Another 33 were injured in the collapse, four of whom were seriously hurt.

According to the local police, 56 people, including 51 employees of the shoe factory, were in a four-story building in Folong Village, Wenling City, that collapsed at around 4 p.m. Saturday. Nine escaped the accident without injury.

"There was no premonition. I heard a 'bang' and saw the building collapse," 42-year-old worker Yang Zhongkun told Xinhua.

Yang said right after the collapse, water poured down from a large fishing pool built on the roof of the building. Other workers said water leak had been reported before the collapse.

Local authorities dispatched 53 firefighting trucks, 302 rescuers and five sniffer dogs. They are still searching if there are more buried.

The cause of the accident is under investigation.