The number of people confirmed dead after a building in China collapsed has risen to 26, state media reported Thursday, nearly a week after the block containing apartments, a hotel and a cinema caved in.
The commercial building in Changsha city, Hunan province — which housed apartments, a hotel and a cinema — collapsed on Friday, sparking a massive response from hundreds of emergency workers.
After a massive emergency response officials confirmed that “currently 10 trapped people have been rescued and 26 people were discovered dead,” state broadcaster CCTV said.
The tenth person pulled alive from the rubble just after midnight on Thursday had been buried in debris for nearly six days.
She was conscious during her rescue and even advised rescuers how to bring her out safely, official news agency Xinhua said.
Another woman who had survived some 88 hours under the debris told state media that she was studying on her bed at the time of the collapse and managed to stay alive by holding on to a small amount of water and using her quilt to keep warm.
She was the ninth person to be pulled from the rubble.
The flattened structure, which has left a gaping hole in a dense Changsha streetscape, created a mess of debris and crumbled concrete beams.
The number of dead had previously been five. There are believed to be more still missing in the debris.
Rescuers have been able to find live victims with the help of sniffer dogs, life detectors and drones, as well as shouting and knocking survivors, according to Xinhua.
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