THE apartment building in Luohu District that recently subsided, damaging two nearby buildings, was built on a sluice-way, according to a preliminary report released by Luohu’s publicity department Wednesday night.

After on-site research, experts concluded that the base of the building was built on cast-in-situ piles, which had been corroded and eroded over the years by the water running down the sluice-way beneath the building. The piles were eventually damaged enough to cause the building to subside.

After the incident, Wang Weizhong, Shenzhen’s Party chief, arrived at the scene and gave instructions, requiring related government agencies to cooperate, tighten monitoring over the safety of nearby buildings, eliminate hidden dangers that could lead to secondary disasters, properly handle the aftermath and ensure the livelihood of residents.

The residents have temporarily taken shelter at the nearby Binhe Middle School and Luohu Primary School.

Wang also required the city to launch safety checks at construction sites, old residential quarters and slopes to prevent hidden dangers and ensure work safety. As the city is in flood season, Wang required related departments to be well-prepared for typhoon and extreme weather prevention, and make detailed contingent plans.

There were no casualties in the incident, and Nanhu Subdistrict Office said the residents living inside the building had been evacuated before the incident.

Within 30 minutes of hearing loud cracking noises for a second time, the work station and property management company evacuated the building.

The building was put into use more than 20 years ago. Most of the tenants or occupants had already been moving since last December because a renovation project was planned to start soon. The first floor of the building was being used as a wet market. There were around 100 people in the market when the incident happened and were all escorted to safety.

“Three to five minutes after the evacuation, the building started to subside and collapse,” Chen Hao, an employee with the property management, was quoted by www.jiemian.com as saying.

(Han Ximin)