China Building Collapse Kills 3; Scores Trapped

A factory that had been declared unsafe and ordered to close collapsed in southeastern China, killing at least three people and trapping as many as 100 others in the debris, officials and state media said Wednesday.

The Huangtian No. 2 Electroplate Factory, which had continued operating despite the order, collapsed without warning Tuesday night, said a Huangtian town official who gave only her surname, Hu. The town is near Wenzhou, a major port on China’s southeastern coast in Zhejiang province.

Rescuers found 15 people injured, said Hu, who added that there was no official estimate of how many people were still under the rubble. But the state-run newspaper Beijing Daily, quoting survivors, said more than 100 people were in the factory when it collapsed.

Rescue efforts have been hampered because the factory was located near a river, and part of the debris was covered during high tide, the newspaper said.

Tidewaters have already covered that part of the wreckage twice, the paper said, making survival unlikely for any still buried.

Hu, the town official, said the building’s owner and at least one factory manager have been arrested for operating the factory despite an order from town safety officials to shut it down.