Two Afghan workers died and 31 others including two Chinese
workers injured as a hospital building under renovation with
Chinese assistance suddenly collapsed Monday afternoon in Afghan
capital of Kabul.
"We have recovered two bodies and 29 injured from the debris of
ravaged Jamhoriat hospital," police and rescuers told Xinhua on the
scene.
"One of the two Chinese workers, who jumped from the third floor
when the incident occurred was slightly wounded while the other
working at the first floor was hit by debris," an official
said.
Afghan police and International Security Assistance Force (ISAF)
rushed to the scene and cordoned off the construction site. All the
injured workers of the tragic incident which occurred at 4:50 PM
local time in Kabul downtown were taken to nearby hospital for
treatment.
However, officials ruled out the possibility of sabotage in the
mishap, saying that investigation was under way.
According to the plan of a Chinese construction company, the
collapsed building should be torn down to build a new one, which
was rejected by Afghan government. A team of experts from China
reviewed and adopted the suggestion of Afghan side on January,
which preferred to fix and renovate rather than put up a new
building.
The right side of the building which has already been renovated
is intact and unharmed while the other side under construction fell
down completely.
Minor earthquake on the day could be a cause of the collapse,
some witnesses said. Tow earthquakes earlier this year jolted Kabul
damaging a few houses in the ruined city.
The US$5 million renovation project of Jamhoriat Shafakhana or
Republican hospital is a major Chinese-aided project in the
post-war Afghanistan along with Parwan irrigation project.
(Xinhua News Agency July 27, 2004)
