Search for the missing person
The Zhenai Power Plant of Lincang, Yunnan province collapsed at about 10:15 AM on December 13 due to its poor construction quality, claiming four deaths, two injuries and one missing, Xinhua reported yesterday.
Until 5 PM on December 16, the missing person has not yet been found. Three days have lapsed and the chance of his survival is rather slim, said Wu Jie, vice secretary-general of Lincang government. The search for the missing person is ongoing.
The project manager of the construction company, the project supervisor and the construction foreman who were mainly responsible for the construction of the project were already arrested.
Search for the missing person
Immediately after the incident, local government established an investigation group to examine the causes of the incident. According to the investigation, three causes provoked the project collapse:
First, the construction company tried to cut corners in the project construction by replacing cement mortar and steel bars with various substances like gloves and woven bags.
Second, the supervision company failed to control the quality of the project and they didn't monitor any potential or existing quality problems for the project.
Third, the construction company did not build the project according to the design; they made an unauthorized blueprint change. Moreover, Yang Zhenglong, the project manager, has absolutely no qualifications at all in building power plants.
Yesterday an authority from the Ministry of Water Resources came to make an on scene investigation. He asserted that bidding institutions and construction companies involved in this incident shall be severely punished.
(China.org.cn by Zhang Ming'ai, December 17, 2007)
