Five Dead In Shanghai Building Collapse: City Govt

Five people were killed on Thursday when a two-storey Shanghai commercial building collapsed on construction workers who were renovating it, the city government said.

Fire rescue authorities had earlier said that 19 out of 20 people buried in the rubble had been pulled to safety.

But the Shanghai city government later said on an official social media account that five of those pulled out were dead.

The accident occurred around 11:30am in a central Shanghai neighbourhood, the fire rescue bureau of China's Ministry of Emergency Management said on its verified social media account.

The posting showed pictures of emergency rescue personnel pulling bloodied and dust-covered construction workers out of piles of rubble, fallen concrete pillars and shattered wooden beams.

The low-rise building had been used as a dealership for Mercedes-Benz cars, the fire rescue bureau said.

A local resident said she was taking a nap when her bed suddenly began shaking as if in an earthquake. She then her a loud bang.

"I thought it was an explosion at first," said the woman, who declined to give her name or to comment further. (AFP)

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