Photo: CCTV

 
A seven-story building has collapsed in Rucheng county of Central China's Hunan Province, leaving five people dead and seven others injured.

The collapse occurred at 12:40 pm on Saturday. The building was a self-built house where 27 people lived together. 

The entire building collapsed to the ground, as online video showed. 

Fifteen people were not at the house when the incident occurred, and 12 people were trapped in the collapse. After search and rescue, the trapped were all sent to hospital. As of press time, five of them died and the other seven were still undergoing treatment, China Central Television (CCTV) reported. 

More than 400 rescuers, 79 rescue vehicles and two search dogs dispatched by multiple local departments took part in the rescue mission.  

The cause of the accident is unknown. Some local residents said the collapse had also triggered a power failure in surrounding areas.

The clean-up work following the accident is still in progress, and aftermath disposal work has begun, according to CCTV. 

Global Times