JIANGXI PROVINCE, China (CCTV) – A rescue operation was underway after a platform under construction at a power plant’s cooling tower collapsed in eastern China’s Jiangxi province on Thursday (November 24), state media reported.
Aerial shots carried on China’s state television CCTV showed the accident site where at least 40 workers have reportedly been killed.
CCTV said there were over 60 workers at the site when the accident happened in Fengcheng at around 7:30 a.m. (2330GMT on Wednesday, November 23).
Rescuers searched through the debris for the missing people and made efforts to minimize the casualties, CCTV said.
Deadly accidents are relatively common at industrial sites in China, and anger over lax standards is growing after three decades of swift economic growth marred by incidents from mining disasters to factory fires.
China has vowed to improve safety at such facilities. President Xi Jinping has said authorities would learn the lessons paid for with blood after chemical blasts in the port city of Tianjin last year killed more than 170 people.