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SHANGHAI: A nearly-completed 13-storey Shanghai apartment building toppled over, killing a worker and raising concerns in China's largest city over construction standards, state media reported Sunday.
Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng ordered a full investigation into the cause of the incident, which occurred Saturday in the southwestern part of the city, the Shanghai Daily reported.
"It was horrible. The building fell down very quickly after several workers ran out of it," Fang Zenghui, whose home faces the building from across the creek, was quoted as telling the newspaper.
"It was very loud. I was stunned and couldn't believe what I'd just seen," he said.
A 28-year-old migrant worker, surnamed Xiao, who entered the building to collect his tools, was killed after trying to jump out of a window as the building fell, the newspaper reported.
About 130 nearby households were evacuated and inspectors were examining the foundations of seven other identical buildings in the "Lotus Riverside" compound, saying they appeared to be intact Saturday evening, the report said.
The incident was a new blow for Chinese property developers, who have been severely hit by a sagging market amid the global financial crisis.
Those who bought apartments in the development were demanding refunds and explanations, the report said.
Developer Shanghai Meidu Real Estate and Shanghai Zhongxin Construction Co said they were contacting owners and negotiating refunds, the newspaper said, adding 77 per cent of the homes had been sold.
The building fell Saturday morning a day after about 83 metres (272 feet) of the nearby riverbank collapsed, apparently due to the construction of an underground parking garage being built on the site, the report said.
Construction company employees had been working through the night Friday to shore up the riverbank, the report said.
Concerns over poor construction and low-quality materials have plagued China's construction industry as the country rapidly builds up its cities and infrastructure needed to maintain its growing economy.
Anger over poor construction boiled over during after last year's earthquake in central China after about 7,000 schools collapsed and relatives of dead children spoke out against graft they believed led to shoddy construction.
- AFP/yb
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