Residents flee homes after construction site cave-in ‘tilts block of flats’ in China
About 180 residents had to flee their homes when ground gave way at a neighbouring construction site in eastern China on Sunday, opening up a massive hole and “putting their building on a lean”.
The ground at the site in Zhushan Road in central Nanjing, Jiangsu province, collapsed at around 4.30am, state broadcaster CCTV reported.
The cave-in created a 100 square metre (1,076 square foot) hole in the ground and tilted the residential building just metres away, the report said.
But state-run news agency Xinhua reported that no abnormalities were detected in nearby residential buildings. All construction on the site was called off until a further inspection was completed, it said.
Citing the results of a preliminary investigation, Xinhua said part of the planned building’s foundation failed due to a combination of rainfall and the site’s land formations.
Nobody was hurt in the incident, municipal propaganda officers were quoted as saying.
Nanjing newspaper Xiandai Kuaibao reported that some heavy equipment fell into the pit along with building works.
“The area used to be pond-land [years ago] but was filled in as part of urban renewal,” a witness was quoted as saying.
