2 die, 1 badly injured in Hangzhou as big archway falls at scenic spot
By Xu Wenwen and Wu Huixin |
August 13, 2012, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
TWO women died after a large decorative archway at Hefang Street, a busy commercial area and tourism destination in Hangzhou, suddenly toppled over yesterday morning.
The venue's antique-style decorated archway was built in 2001. It fell forward because two wooden tenons connecting the wooden archway and concrete blocks at two sides were highly deteriorated, a preliminary investigation showed.
Of the two who died, one was about to become a grandmother. The woman's husband also was seriously injured as a result of the incident, which happened about 9:40am as Hefang Street, a pedestrian street in downtown Hangzhou capital of east China's Zhejiang Province, welcomed hundreds of tourists, just like any other Sunday.
A 58-year-old woman surnamed Lu from Hubei Province was killed on the spot as a result of head injuries, said Hangzhou Fire-fighting Brigade.
A 62-year-old woman surnamed Jiang from the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, died on the way to a hospital.
Lu's husband Qin Yang, 65, suffered a fracture of the lower leg and had a surgery yesterday afternoon.
The couple was in Hangzhou to visit their son and daughter-in-law, who live in the city and who expect a baby at the end of the month.
"Government should compensate our family," their son told Shanghai Daily. He didn't give his name.
"Right now, the most important thing is the recovery of my father. The government should undertake the responsibility for my mother's death, and pay for my father's treatment, which might last for years," he said.
After the mishap, "more than 20 people, tourists and shopkeepers tried to take the fallen archway aside to save people, yet it was too heavy to be moved," said Zhu Yumei, a shopkeeper whose store is 20 meters from the archway.
As a Shanghai Daily reporter observed, the concrete blocks were about 2 meters high, while the wooden part was over 5 meters high. After the collapse, the surface of the remaining wood inserted in the blocks was powdery.
The site was cleared up by noon yesterday, and the concrete foundations were wrapped in plastic sheets.
Last week, the city was hit by Typhoon Haikui, but Sun Jianjun, spokesman of the Qing Dynasty Hefang Historical Block Committee, said the investigation showed the collapse of the large archway had nothing to do with the typhoon.
Sun declined to answer questions such as whether the committee maintained the archway regularly, and which unit designed and made the archway.
Sun said the complete investigation results would be released as soon as possible.
The venue's antique-style decorated archway was built in 2001. It fell forward because two wooden tenons connecting the wooden archway and concrete blocks at two sides were highly deteriorated, a preliminary investigation showed.
Of the two who died, one was about to become a grandmother. The woman's husband also was seriously injured as a result of the incident, which happened about 9:40am as Hefang Street, a pedestrian street in downtown Hangzhou capital of east China's Zhejiang Province, welcomed hundreds of tourists, just like any other Sunday.
A 58-year-old woman surnamed Lu from Hubei Province was killed on the spot as a result of head injuries, said Hangzhou Fire-fighting Brigade.
A 62-year-old woman surnamed Jiang from the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, died on the way to a hospital.
Lu's husband Qin Yang, 65, suffered a fracture of the lower leg and had a surgery yesterday afternoon.
The couple was in Hangzhou to visit their son and daughter-in-law, who live in the city and who expect a baby at the end of the month.
"Government should compensate our family," their son told Shanghai Daily. He didn't give his name.
"Right now, the most important thing is the recovery of my father. The government should undertake the responsibility for my mother's death, and pay for my father's treatment, which might last for years," he said.
After the mishap, "more than 20 people, tourists and shopkeepers tried to take the fallen archway aside to save people, yet it was too heavy to be moved," said Zhu Yumei, a shopkeeper whose store is 20 meters from the archway.
As a Shanghai Daily reporter observed, the concrete blocks were about 2 meters high, while the wooden part was over 5 meters high. After the collapse, the surface of the remaining wood inserted in the blocks was powdery.
The site was cleared up by noon yesterday, and the concrete foundations were wrapped in plastic sheets.
Last week, the city was hit by Typhoon Haikui, but Sun Jianjun, spokesman of the Qing Dynasty Hefang Historical Block Committee, said the investigation showed the collapse of the large archway had nothing to do with the typhoon.
Sun declined to answer questions such as whether the committee maintained the archway regularly, and which unit designed and made the archway.
Sun said the complete investigation results would be released as soon as possible.
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