Death toll in collapse of Xinjia Hotel used as quarantine facility in China rises to 20

Beijing, Mar 10: The death toll from the collapse of a hotel used as a quarantine facility in China's Fujian province has risen to 20, local officials said on Tuesday. The Xinjia Hotel in Licheng district in Quanzhou city was used to quarantine and observe people who had come to the province during the novel coronavirus prevention and control and had come in contact with the virus patients.

The hotel collapsed on Saturday. Sixty-two people have been pulled out of the debris of the hotel so far and among them 20 have died, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. One man was rescued on Tuesday evening 69 hours after being trapped in the rubble.

On Monday night, a 10-year-old boy and his mother were rescued. At the time of the collapse, a total of 71 people were trapped and nine others managed to escape. Rescuers are searching for another nine people who remain missing.

A preliminary investigation showed the hotel building was being decorated when the accident occurred and the owner of the building has been put under police control. The novel coronavirus originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December last year and has claimed over 3,000 lives in the country.