The roof of the sports hall at Secondary School Number 34 in Qiqihar city, northeast China’s Heilongjiang province, collapsed during a girls’ volleyball team training session yesterday at 14:56 local time. Fifteen of the 19 people in the hall were buried under rubble. Following search and rescue efforts this morning, 11 people were reported dead and four were hospitalized due to injuries.
Initial investigations showed that the collapse was caused by construction equipment, used for building the adjacent structure, becoming heavier due to rainfall. The company officials in charge of the construction were detained.