23 trapped, 5 rescued after building collapses in China

Five people have been rescued, and 23 others remain trapped after a self-constructed residential building collapsed Friday in central China's Hunan Province, said a press conference on Saturday, citing a preliminary report.

The five people rescued have been rushed to the hospital and are in stable condition. There are also 39 people missing near the site of the incident, according to a preliminary investigation by the police, reported Xinhua.

The incident took place at 12:24 p.m. in Wangcheng District in the provincial capital Changsha.

The building, with a floor area of about 700 square meters, has eight floors. The first floor has a facade, and a restaurant and a cafe are run respectively on the second and third floors. The fourth, fifth, and sixth floors are guesthouses, and the seventh and eighth floors are private homes.

The tenants have made varying degrees of structural modifications to the building, yet the exact cause of the collapse is under investigation.

Over 700 personnel from fire, emergency management, and public security departments have joined the rescue efforts.

The whole building is on the brink of tumbling down as it receives pressure from the collapsed parts. Rescuers have therefore urgently reinforced it and relocated nearby residents due to safety concerns.