Eleven people have died after the roof of a school gym in northeast China collapsed while being used by a women’s volleyball team, state media report. According to eyewitnesses, many of the victims are children.
Inside the gym, located in Heilongjiang province, there were a total of 19 people. Eleven of them have died, four escaped and the rest have injuries of varying severity. Police have already arrested the heads of a local construction company, according to local media.
The detainees are accused of throwing perlite, a form of volcanic glass, on the roof of the gym while working on a construction project. In this way, an alleged illegal storage of perlite on the roof would have been one of the causes of the terrible accident.
The mineral had absorbed rainwater after heavy downpours, causing the roof to collapse. According to some parents of the victims, there was a lack of communication about the rescue effort, which lasted too many hours.
Construction accidents are common in China, blamed on lax safety standards and poor enforcement.
