Rescuers on Monday found the body of one of the 17 workers who were missing after Saturday's collapse at a subway construction site in east China's Zhejiang Province, bringing the confirmed death toll to five.
The search continued for the 16 others, said Wang Guangrong, chief of the rescue operation at the scene.
"There is a slim chance for the trapped workers to survive, because of heavy flooding," said Wang. Water from a nearby river rushed into the tunnel, rising as high as 6m at one point.
The incident happened at 3:20 p.m. when a 75-m section of a tunnel under construction collapsed in Xiaoshan District, trapping about 50 workers and 11 vehicles. The cause of the collapse is being investigated.
Most of the trapped workers were saved. At last count, the number of injured was 24, all of whom were initially hospitalized. Eleven of the injured have been discharged.
All those in the trapped vehicles survived.
About 1,000 police and fire fighters have been taking part in the rescue, using more than 60 pieces of heavy equipment. They have pumped most of the water out of the tunnel.
New cracks, however, were spotted near the caved-in section. Measures were taken to prevent secondary disasters, said Wang.
Chengxi Primary School of Xiaoshan District, which is near the site, was closed for three days starting on Monday.
The contractor, China Railway Construction Group Co., Ltd., halted all subway construction work in the city for safety checks, said the group's vice president, Bai Zhongren.
Source: Xinhua
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