Chinese Mall Collapses, Scores Feared Dead

B E I J I N G, Dec. 2 -- More than 100 people werebelieved dead today after a shopping mall in southernChina collapsed into a heap of rubble while constructionworkers were illegally adding extra floors.

Officials in Dongguan, a city in Guangdong province, gaveup hope this morning of finding anyone alive in thefield of bricks where the mall had stood less than 24 hoursearlier.

“The rescue is over. Workers are doing the cleaning up,”one official told Reuters by telephone.

State television put the official toll at eight dead and 32injured in the latest accident in a construction industryplagued by shoddy work.

Premier Zhu Rongji has fumed in the past at what he called“bean curd construction.”

State news agency Xinhua said that before the collapse acrack had appeared in the mall, a popular shopping destinationan hour’s drive from Hong Kong.

Survivor Wang Jingjing said from her hospital bed thatpeople at the mall had been worried about the crack.

“Some people said there was no problem, so we came back,”she told a Hong Kong cable television station.

The mall collapsed shortly after a heavy truck growled pastit, she said.

Builders Detained

Xinhua said construction workers were illegally adding twofloors to the privately-owned one-story building and thecontractor had been detained.

The Dongguan official said three managers of theconstruction firm were being held.

“They are in detention and being questioned, but no chargeshave been laid yet,” he said.

State television said the firm had just finished the newroof when the building collapsed around 2 p.m. (0600 GMT) onFriday.

A Web site quoted a mall shopkeeper surnamedLiu as saying he had told the contractor several days ago thatthe floor of the building was sinking, but had been ignored.

The shopkeeper and his wife fled shortly before thecollapse when the floor sank further and water appeared, thewebsite said.