11 dead in China gymnasium roof collapse

At least 11 people were killed after the roof of a school gymnasium in north-east China collapsed during a girls' volleyball match, local media reported Monday.

It is feared that most of the victims of this deadly roof collapse in China are young children as a large number of parents and family members thronged the nearby hospital searching for their loved ones, according to eyewitnesses.

Out of the 19 people who were inside the building when the accident occurred in the industrial province of Heilongjiang, only eight survived.

Local media reported that the police have detained the bosses at a local construction company upon the accusations that they dumped perlite, a form of volcanic glass, on the roof of the gym while working on an adjacent building project.

As the mineral had absorbed rain water from recent heavy downpours in the region, the roof collapsed at 15:00 local time (07:00 GMT).

According to China National Radio, the coach of the middle school's girls' volleyball team was heard calling out the students' names as rescue teams clawed their way through the rubble in Qiqihar City.

Meanwhile, the lack of proper communication during the rescue effort that stretched through Monday morning has angered parents leading them to criticise school officials.

"They tell me my daughter is gone but we never got to see the child. All the children had their faces covered with mud and blood when they were sent to the hospital," one man said in a video that has been widely shared on social media. "I pleaded, please let me identify the child. What if, that wasn't my child?"

"What have [the authorities] been doing four, five, or even six hours after the children were sent to hospital? Doctors are not communicating with us about how the rescue is going.

"We have elderly people at home, we need to [help them] be mentally prepared. There are doctors, police officers, and other government officials here. But we have not heard anything from you," he said.

Many locals on social media have voiced concerns over the helpless parent's plea in the viral video, raising questions about the treatment of concerned parents by the police and officials at the scene.

"Do people mean nothing to them?" wrote one angry user.

Others questioned why perlite was present on the roof of the gym in the first place. "The cost for breaking the law is too low in this country, people don't have any respect for the law, that's the key reason," another user wrote.

According to the BBC, construction accidents are common across China and have been blamed on neglected safety standards and poor enforcement.

Previously, an explosion occurred at a barbecue restaurant in north-west China killed at least 31 people in June. After a preliminary investigation, it was discovered that a restaurant employee was replacing a broken valve on a liquefied gas tank which led to the deadly blast.

Furthermore, 29 people were killed in a fire at a Beijing hospital in April which led some desperate survivors to flee the tragic fire by jumping out of the windows.