According to state-run media, one person was retrieved alive from the ruins of a building that collapsed three days ago in central China, with prospects of finding more lives diminishing fast.
The collapse of a commercial building in Changsha, Hunan province, which housed flats, a hotel, and a theatre, prompted a large rescue attempt involving hundreds of emergency responders on Friday.
State-run CCTV photos showed a person wrapped in a thick white blanket being transported on a stretcher, bringing the total number of individuals found in three days to eight.
The victim was carried to the hospital by rescue workers in blue uniforms, with no information on their status available on broadcast stations.
According to state-run news agency Xinhua, the eighth survivor — a woman — had her limbs pinned down by debris, which made it difficult for rescue workers to extract her from the rubble.
“The emergency medical team used infusion tubes measuring about 3 meters long to deliver a normal saline solution to her,” it reported.
The search for survivors is still ongoing, with emergency officials avoiding the use of machinery to prevent causing vibrations in the collapsed structure, according to the report.
Authorities have identified at least 15 persons who are still trapped in the rubble, while no contact has been made with 39 others.
Zheng Jianxin, the mayor of Changsha, had earlier stated that the administration would “seize the golden 72 hours for rescue,” a window that had closed by Monday afternoon.
According to official television CCTV, a seventh survivor was discovered alive the day before after 50 hours of search and rescue operations.
She was separated from rescuers by a one-meter-thick wall, which was able to locate her after detecting indications of life at the site.
Changsha police said nine people — including the building’s owner and a team of safety inspectors — were detained as of Sunday in connection with the accident.
Authorities alleged that surveyors had falsified a safety audit of the building.
More than 700 first responders were dispatched to the scene of the disaster, which left a gaping hole in a dense streetscape.
On Sunday, state media showed firefighters, aided by a digger, slicing through a tangle of metal and concrete sheets, while rescuers shouted into the debris to contact any survivors.
According to official media, President Xi Jinping called for a search “at any costs” and ordered a thorough probe into the reason of the collapse on Saturday.
Building collapses are widespread in China as a result of lax safety and building standards, as well as corruption among enforcement officers.
In January, a building in Chongqing was destroyed by an explosion caused by a suspected gas leak, killing at least 16 people.
