Collapse toll climbs to 53

A building collapse in central China aweek ago killed 53 people, state media reported yesterday as the search of the large pile of debris ended after rescuers found 10 survivors. Authorities said all those missing had been accounted for. The residential and commercial building in the city of Changsha suddenly collapsed on the afternoon of April 29. Aerial photos showthat it pancaked to about the second storey. At least nine people have been arrested on suspicion of ignoring building codes or committing other violations. Survivors were pulled out of the rubble over several days, with the last one rescued five days after the collapse. An increase in the number of collapses of self-built buildings in recent years has prompted Chinese President Xi Jinping to call for additional checks to uncover structural weaknesses.