Death toll in Chinese hotel collapse raised to 17; 23 freed
BEIJING (AP) - The death toll in the collapse of a hotel in eastern China was raised to 17 Wednesday as authorities ended the search and rescue mission.
The city of Suzhou said on its social media feed that 23 people had been pulled alive from the rubble of the Kaiyuan Hotel, which collapsed on Tuesday afternoon.
Rescuers used cranes, ladders, metal cutters and search dogs to look for survivors. Twenty-three people had been trapped.
Most of those killed were hotel guests.
More than 600 people including earthquake rescue teams and 120 vehicles were been mobilized for the operation. Suzhou city is in Jiangsu province near Shanghai.
In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, rescuers prepare equipment as they search for survivors at a collapsed hotel in Suzhou in eastern China's Jiangsu Province on Monday, July 12, 2021. The hotel building collapsed Monday afternoon. (Li Bo/Xinhua via AP)
In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, rescuers search for survivors at a collapsed hotel in Suzhou in eastern China's Jiangsu Province, Monday, July 12, 2021. The hotel building collapsed Monday afternoon. (Li Bo/Xinhua via AP)
