FENGCHENG, China, Nov. 25 (UPI) — At least 40 people died after scaffolding collapsed at an under-construction nuclear cooling tower in eastern China early Thursday morning, according to official state reports.
Rescue workers and search dogs were out at a power station in the Jiangxi Province, about 750 miles south of Beijing, on Thursday searching for more of the 68 people who were working at the construction site when a platform in an unfinished cooling tower collapsed.
At least 40 have been confirmed dead, and officials said they fear the number will rise. At least five people are being treated for injuries related to the accident, according to state-run media.
The platform collapsed around 7 a.m., drawing 32 fire engines and 212 soldiers, as well as nine search and rescue dogs, to climb the rubble searching for survivors.
The Ganneng Fengcheng power plant is part of a $1.1 billion expansion to add two 1,000-megawatt coal-fired power plants by 2018, part of an overall push in China to build coal plants amid cheap financing and even more cheap coal.
