Death toll from central China building collapse rises to eight

WUHAN, July 6 (Xinhua) -- Rescuers had recovered eight bodies from debris after another body was found at 6 a.m. on Sunday after a building under construction collapsed on Saturday afternoon in central China's Hubei Province.

In addition, 13 others were rescued and sent to local hospital.

At least 20 construction workers were buried after the four-story building collapsed at around 5 p.m. at the Qiuzhigou Village in the suburb Wuhan City, the provincial capital, said WanYong, assistant to the city mayor.

Police are searching for the contractor of the building, who was missing after the collapse.

Wan said it is not clear how many people were at the site when the accident happened as the person in charge of the project escaped.

Xinhua reporters saw the building becoming a pile of ruins about five meters high and more than 100 rescuers are searching for the missing in rain.

The municipal authorities said construction of the building, a private residence, is illegal because it had not been approved by the local government.

However, large rescue equipment, such crane, can hardly get into the site as a result of narrow alleyways which are less than 10 meters in width.

Investigation into the cause of the accident is underway.