A hotel building used as a quarantine facility collapsed in the city of Quanzhou, in east China's Fujian province, on Saturday evening (Mar. 7).
As of 8:20 am, on Mar. 8, 49 people have been rescued from the six-floor Xinjia Hotel, according to state media Xinhua.
State media CGTN reported at 10:20 pm that two people pulled from the debris were found dead, and that 48 people have been rescued thus far.
Young child among those rescued
A preliminary report said that about 70 people were trapped when the hotel first collapsed, at about 7:30 pm local time.
Xinhua reported that more than 1,000 firefighters rushed to help with the rescue operation shortly after the collapse, at about 7:30 pm local time.
The local fire department in Quanzhou City sent more than 200 firefighters to the scene, while Fujian province dispatched more than 800 firefighters.
Local authorities said that the hotel has been used to quarantine and observe people who arrived from other provinces, as part of the efforts to prevent and control Covid-19.
According to Xinhua, a child, estimated to be between two to three years old, was pulled from the rubble by rescue workers in the early hours of the morning.
A video was shared earlier by People's Daily on Twitter, showing footage of the hotel collapsing.
Top image from New China TV's YouTube channel.