China Daily Global Edition (USA)
Platform collapse kills at least 74 workers
Seventy-four workers have been confirmed dead and two injured after a working platform within a power plant’s unfinished cooling tower collapsed on Thursday morning in Jiangxi province.
President Xi Jinping urged local authorities early on Thursday to step up rescue, treatment and follow-up efforts.
The country has seen several recent work accidents, and the central government should take steps to thoroughly root out work safety hazards, he said.
Premier Li Keqiang called on rescue workers to put lives first by saving anyone who was trapped and by treating the injured.
He urged setting up a State Council team to help investigate the cause of the accident and punish anyone accountable according to laws.
The collapse occurred at around 7 am on Thursday when a tower crane’s collapse triggered the collapse of the entire construction platform within the cooling tower of the Fengcheng Power Plant in Yichun, Jiangxi.
The two injured workers were in stable condition at a hospital, China Central Television reported.
They were migrant workers from Gansu province, the report said, adding that the work crew also included workers from Cheng’an county, Hebei province.
Li Yihuang, the vice-governor of Jiangxi who is heading a provincial-level investigation team, said at a news briefing that workers from the night shift were being relieved by the morning shift when the collapse occurred.
Local authorities sent more than 500 rescuers to the collapse site after the incident took place.