Photo: Screenshot from CCTV

In Changning county, Southwest China’s Sichuan Province, a temporary rain shelter collapsed during a banquet at a villager’s home on Tuesday evening, killing five people and injuring 17 others, Xinhua News Agency reported on Wednesday.

According to the Changning county emergency management bureau, the accident occurred at around 5:30 pm on Tuesday during a banquet held to celebrate the admission of the villager’s child to college. The parapet wall on the roof of the first floor, which was used to secure the shelter, collapsed after water accumulated on the structure and excessive tension was placed on the ropes. 

The accident killed three people at the scene, while two others later died after emergency treatment failed. Another 17 injured people are currently receiving treatment in hospital. Local authorities are making every effort to treat the injured and handle the aftermath of the incident.

The accident occurred amid torrential rains battering parts of Sichuan, leading to relocation of 21,784 people in advance as of Wednesday morning. The rainfall also triggered two geological disasters, state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) reported.

According to the office of the geological disaster prevention and control command of Sichuan Province, heavy to torrential rain hit areas such as Chengdu and Zigong in Sichuan, with some areas experiencing extreme heavy rain. The maximum precipitation recorded at Shulin village, Dongpo district, and Meishan city reached 118 millimeters. 

The heavy rainfall triggered two geological disasters. One occurred in Jiulong county, Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, where the affected road has been restored to traffic. The other occurred in Wenchuan county, Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, causing a disruption on G350 national highway. Local transportation authorities have implemented traffic control measures and are continuing repair efforts.

As of 7 am on Wednesday, a total of 21,784 people had been relocated to safety in advance over the previous 24 hours across 64 counties-level regions in 13 cities and prefectures in Sichuan. Among them, the largest numbers were recorded in Liangshan (7,346 people), Mianyang (3,174 people), and Ya’an (2,400 people). Since the start of the flood season, Sichuan has carried out advance evacuations for a total of 1,102,694 people. 

Global Times