Latest news with #roofcollapse
South China Morning Post
23-05-2025
- South China Morning Post
Collapse of historic Chinese building's roof revives concerns about construction standards
An investigation is being held into the collapse of a roof at a tourist site in central China following a major renovation project that finished last year. Hundreds of tiles fell off the roof of the Fengyang Drum Tower in Anhui province on Monday evening in an incident captured on film that was widely shared online. No injuries were reported. Fengyang county was the hometown of Hongwu, the founding emperor of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) and the tower is one of the main local tourist attractions. The local culture and tourism bureau said the collapse was under investigation and the incident prompted media questions about the quality of the repair work carried out on the site. The tower was built in 1375 in the early years of the Ming dynasty and it underwent extensive repairs in 1995. Further repair works on the roof began in 2023 and finished last year. The most recent project cost 2.9 million yuan (US$402,600), according to digital news platform which cited local procurement data. Its report alleged that the contractor involved had a record of illegally subcontracting renovations to unqualified personnel and allowing them to undertake projects under its name.
Washington Post
22-05-2025
- Climate
- Washington Post
Roof of centuries-old Chinese tower partially collapses, video shows
Hundreds of tiles fell from the 650-year-old Fengyang Drum Tower in China's Anhui province Monday, sending crowds running for safety as the roof collapsed in a giant plume of smoke, social media video showed. There were no injuries, local tourism officials said. Dozens, including children, fled in panic, the state-run Yangtse Evening Post reported. One witness said the collapse lasted a minute or two after 'a thundering sound.'
New York Times
22-05-2025
- General
- New York Times
A Very Old Tower's Much Newer Roof Collapses, Raising Questions in China
The reconstructed roof of a 14th-century tower in eastern China partially collapsed in dramatic fashion this week, leading to an investigation and questions about whether the structure's modern renovations had been substandard or even illegal. Videos shared online showed tiles cascading off the roof of the Drum Tower in Fengyang County on Monday as dozens of people were gathered in an open plaza below. A large cloud of dust swelled around the building as the onlookers scattered. No injuries were reported, according to the Fengyang government. It said the cause of the collapse was under investigation. The tower has been designated a key cultural relic by Anhui Province, which includes Fengyang County. Its base, reportedly the largest of any drum tower in China, dates to 1375, during the Ming dynasty. Drum towers, often found in the center of Chinese cities, were historically used to help communities keep time. But the building atop the base in Fengyang, which has curved eaves layered with tiles, was built only in 1995, the original having been destroyed in the 19th century. It was renovated last year, specifically to fix the problem of falling roof tiles, the Fengyang government said after the collapse. That spurred questions online about the quality of the renovation, which cost about 3 million yuan, or nearly $420,000, and whether public funds had been misused. Ten years ago, the company that handled the tower project was renovating an ancestral hall in Anhui when a fire broke out that destroyed part of the building, according to state media reports. Adding to the concerns about the structure, CCTV, China's state broadcaster, said this week that the entire recreated building atop the base had been built illegally in the 1990s, calling it a 'fake antique' that had not been approved by officials who oversee cultural heritage sites. CCTV did not explain why there had been no earlier scrutiny of the building. Many historical sites across China have been renovated in recent decades as cultural tourism has exploded in popularity. Slipshod construction has been a long-running problem in China, especially during the early years of the economic boom that began four decades ago. Poorly built school buildings contributed to the deaths of as many as 10,000 students in a 2008 earthquake in Sichuan Province. Oversight has improved, but construction accidents are still a sensitive and sometimes deadly issue. A Ming dynasty gate, also in Fengyang County, collapsed during a construction project in 2007. Investigators at the time determined that unauthorized construction and quality issues may have played a role, the state news agency Xinhua reported. According to the Fengyang government's statement, tiles began falling off the drum tower's roof in 2017. In 2023, the government launched a public bidding process for renovations. The winning company, Huangshan Huizhou Zhongya Construction, started the work in September 2023 and finished in March of last year. Just nine months later, in December, officials noticed cracks on top of the building, the head of Fengyang's culture and tourism bureau, Lu Deyong, said in an interview with China National Radio. But they determined that the roof tiles, in general, were secure, Mr. Lu said. He defended the cost of the renovation, which he said included repairing tiles and railings and adding layers of cement mortar. 'As for whether it's a problem of project quality, that requires expert verification,' Mr. Lu said. Asked about CCTV's report that the 1995 reconstruction was unauthorized, Mr. Lu told the Beijing News, an outlet controlled by China's ruling Communist Party, that the project had been approved. Attempts to reach the culture and tourism bureau for comment were unsuccessful.
Washington Post
22-05-2025
- Climate
- Washington Post
Roof of centuries-old tower collapses in China
World Roof of centuries-old tower collapses in China May 22, 2025 | 2:13 AM GMT Hundreds of tiles fell from the roof of the Fengyang Drum Tower in China's Anhui province on May 19.
BBC News
21-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
Roof of historic Ming Dynasty tower collapses in China
Hundreds of tiles have fallen from the roof of a centuries old tower in China's Anhui province, smashing to the ground near visitors to the footage showed sections of the roof collapsing, narrowly missing a number of media cited a Fengyang County Culture and Tourism Bureau statement that said no one was injured in the incident, which happened at around 18:30 local time (11:30 BST) on Drum Tower - reportedly the largest in China - was built in 1375 during the Ming Dynasty but had undergone an extensive rebuild in 1995. Officials for the county, around 200 miles away from the capital Beijing, said an investigation was under way, in a post shared on China's instant messaging app, county is famous for being the hometown of the Ming Dynasty's founding emperor - Hongwu Emperor, Zhu authorities reportedly moved bystanders from the scene following the collapse and secured the area. The investigation will be looking at the repair project's design and construction, a statement seen by local media say supervision units were also sent to the site with experts invited to assist in the investigation and verification tower is closed while repairs are carried out, with a reopening date due to be announced at a later date.
