At least 10 people dead after a coronavirus quarantine hotel collapsed in China
- A hotel being used as a coronavirus quarantine center collapsed Saturday night in southeastern China, according to CNN.
- 80 people were inside the building when it came down. Nine escaped, but 71 people were trapped.
- As of 8:30 a.m. EST, 10 were confirmed dead.
- The hotel was in Quanzhou, which is about 600 miles from the epicenter of the outbreak in Wuhan.
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A hotel that was being used as a coronavirus quarantine center in southeastern China collapsed Saturday, killing at least ten people, the Ministry of Emergency Management told CNN.
There were approximately 80 people inside the building when it came down, 58 of whom were under quarantine. Nine people escaped on their own, but 71 were trapped, CNN reported.
Rescuers pulled 48 people from the rubble, but 23 remain unaccounted for, according to CNN.
The hotel was in Quanzhou, which is about 600 miles from the epicenter of the outbreak in Wuhan.
"We are using life detection instruments to monitor signs of life and professional breaking-in tools to make forcible entries," Guo Yutuan, of the Quanzhou armed police detachment's mobile unit, told CNN. "We are trying our utmost to save trapped people."
The Fujian Fire Department has deployed more than 1,000 firefighters and other emergency responders to the scene, according to CNN.
Police have taken the owner of the seven-story steel structure into custody, according to CNN.
The building was being renovated and workers called the owner around 7 p.m. on Saturday to tall him that a pillar had become distorted during construction. It collapsed minutes later, according to CNN.
The incident remains under investigation.
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