Forced demolition behind building collapse that killed 22: residents

By Kong Xiaoqi, Wang Yuqian and Li Rongde

Rescue workers comb through the rubble at the site where four buildings collapsed in Wenzhou's Lucheng District on Monday killing 22 migrant workers. Photo: Visual China

(Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province) — The four buildings in a slum area that collapsed Monday — killing 22 — in the eastern city of Wenzhou had already been "partially damaged" by government-backed demolition operations aimed at forcing out tenants, several local residents told Caixin.

The six-story buildings, which offered cramped quarters for factory workers at a nearby industrial park, collapsed around 4 a.m. on Monday, state-run China Central Television reported. Six survivors were pulled out of the rubble before the rescue was called off, the official Xinhua news agency said.