UPDATE - China: 10 dead after houses collapse in industrial area

UPDATES DEATH TOLL

By Mahmut Atanur

BEIJING (AA) – At least 10 people have been confirmed dead after four residential buildings collapsed in an industrial district of the eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang.

State news agency Xinhua reported that rescuers have been engaged in efforts to verify the number of people buried in the debris of the six-story structures in Wenzhou City since early Monday morning.

A total of 15 people -- 10 of them fatalities -- were pulled from the rubble as of 02.30 a.m. (0630GMT).

According to rescuers, the collapsed buildings were reportedly built by villagers.

Sun Jing of the Wenzhou fire department was quoted as saying that the height of the debris was comparable to a three-story structure.

"To protect those who are trapped, we are mainly digging with our bare hands, so that work is going slowly," Sun said.

Rescuers have been demolishing five adjacent houses “to avoid secondary disasters”.

Xinhua also quoted Zhou Liqiang, a resident who has been living in the area for more than a decade, as saying that most of the victims are migrant workers.

An investigation into the collapse of the buildings is ongoing.