[Rescue Team at Collapsed Building, Photo Credit to Pexels]

On July 23rd, 2023, the media revealed a tragic incident in Qiqihar, China. At least eleven people died after their middle school gymnasium roof collapsed. 

The middle school girls’ volleyball team (consisting of 17 members) and their two coaches were using the gymnasium when the building collapsed.

The coaches’ voices echoed across the space immediately after the collapse in an attempt to find the members of the girl’s volleyball team.

Eyewitnesses informed the local media how many of the victims were children, though the official confirmation is still pending. 

The heartbreaking news left the community in shock and mourning.

As the news of the tragedy spread, anguished parents rushed to a nearby hospital in search of updates about their loved ones. 

The grim reality unfolded as it was soon discovered that only eight of the nineteen individuals who were inside the gym at the time of the collapse survived.

According to Xinhua (China’s local media), police detained the construction contractor of a local construction company during the investigation.

The workers stacked construction material on the gym’s roof while working with an adjacent complex, which violated building regulations.

Even worse, the material dumped on the Qiqihar’s roof was perlite, a form of volcanic glass which is mixed with water to make insulating plaster. 

The perlite absorbed an exceeding amount of water after rain fell on Sunday, causing the roof to collapse from the extra weight.  

The citizens blamed the powerless safety checks of construction sites and the government’s lack of proactivity. 

According to the BBC, a user wrote; “The cost for breaking the law is too low in this country, people don't have any respect for the law, that's the key reason.” 

The incident shone a light on previous incidents of collapses that occurred due to  shoddily-built constructions in China.

Previously, 10,000 school children died due to the collapse of 7,000 classrooms during the Sichuan earthquake. 

As people criticised the “tofu” buildings, used to describe poorly constructed buildings, the Ministry of Education issued regulations in 2009, which required national and local government safety checks for construction work.

The middle school that collapsed earlier this week was built in 1997, yet it was not clear whether the gym was checked before the event. 

Chinese citizens expressed anger towards the police and the government who hid the victims, even from their families.

One man from a viral video on social media mentioned: “They tell me my daughter is gone but we never got to see the child. All the children had their faces covered with mud and blood when they were sent to the hospital. I pleaded, please let me identify the child. What if that wasn't my child?”

He also continued to rebuke the poor communication from the doctors; "What have [the authorities] been doing four, five, or even six hours after the children were sent to hospital? ... Doctors are not communicating with us about how the rescue is going.”

Amidst the tragedy, there were widespread doubts and concerns about the importance placed on citizens' lives in China. 

The government's alleged attempts to keep the incident under wraps hindered them from providing timely updates on the victims' well-being, leading to growing frustration and distrust among the public.