Beijing, July 5 (IANS) At least 12 people were killed and two reported missing when a shoe factory collapsed in east China’s Zhejiang province, police said on Sunday.
Fifty-six people, including 51 employees, were in the four-storey shoe factory in Folong village near Wenling city when it collapsed around 4 p.m. on Saturday. The collapse left 33 people injured while nine others escaped unhurt, police said.
“There was no premonition. I heard a ‘bang’ and saw the building collapse,” 42-year-old worker Yang Zhongkun told Xinhua news agency.
Yang said that right after the collapse, water poured down from a large fishing pool built on the roof of the building. Other workers said water leak was reported prior to the collapse.
Local authorities dispatched 53 firefighting trucks, 302 rescuers and five sniffer dogs to the collapse site. The cause of the accident was under investigation.