Eleven individuals were killed when the concrete roof of a school gymnasium collapsed in the city of Qiqihar, China. Many of the victims are reported to have been young women who played volleyball at the school.
The authorities suspect the failure may have been caused by the unlawful piling of materials on the roof.
Sunday Tragedy
According to The Guardian, reports of the collapse of No. 34 Middle School in Longsha District in Qiqihar, in the north-east Heilongjiang province, came in the early afternoon on Sunday, July 23. But it was not until Monday morning, July 24, that the last survivor was rescued.
Officials said that there were 19 persons in the gym at the time of the disaster, but only four survived. A parent reported the event to China Youth Daily, saying that his daughter's volleyball team was using the gym when the incident took place.
"The team consisted of students selected from different grades. They had just returned to the school a few days ago after a competition out-of-town," a witness told state radio.
On Sunday, state radio reported that the team's coach was among the dead, while it was unclear whether or not any adults were among those who died.
A relative of the victim informed reporters from a state-backed media source that his niece played volleyball for the school and was in the gym working on her skills at the time of the incident.
According to Xinhua, via The Guardian, an initial investigation revealed that during the construction of a school building next to the gymnasium, employees illegally placed perlite, a mineral with a high water content and which may absorb water, on the gymnasium's roof.
This past weekend saw severe rainfall over the region and other parts of China, leading to floods and devastation in some places. State media said the roof had collapsed due to perlite swelling with water weight after prolonged rainfall.
Xinhua said that authorities had taken the owners of the construction business into jail and were conducting an in-depth inquiry.
Social Media Uproar
The event has prompted fury on China's social media network Weibo. In a report by Bloomberg, as of 4:00 PM local time, the hashtag relating to the collapse had gathered 520 million views, making it the day's most-searched topic on the platform.
Users on social media have noted that the official statement downplays casualties in favor of the rescue attempts.
A furious father's video complaint also went viral online. He said the government had sent cops to keep an eye on parents, but no one notified them of their children's whereabouts.
"They tell me my daughter is gone, but we never got to see the child. All the children had their faces covered with mud and blood when they were sent to the hospital. I pleaded, 'Please let me identify the child. What if that wasn't my child?'" the man voiced his concern.
