Three dead, 17 injured at art workshop after scaffolding collapse

Three people were killed and 17 injured after they were buried while building a large a sculpture at an art workshop in Changping district Tuesday afternoon.

The scaffolding inside the art workshop in Xianrendong village collapsed at 2:40 pm, burying 20 people. Some of the victims were buried for almost two hours by the debris.

A staff member, surnamed Ding, with the media office of Changping district government, told the Global Times that all 20 people pulled out were transferred to emergency medical centers and local hospitals by 6:30 pm, when the rescue was finished.

"Three people died in the hospital, six are still under medical treatment and the others are being gradually discharged from hospital," he said.

The identities of the three deceased have not been released, and discussion of compensation will not begin until after the investigation is complete, said Ding. 

"Preliminary investigations show that it might be the sculpture that first fell and then the scaffolding around it collapsed and hurt the workers," he said.

An injured man who was working under the scaffolding, told the Beijing News in Beijing Changping Hospital that the arc-shaped sculpture was about 10 meters high and 30 meters long. No workers were wearing safety helmets, he said.

A student, who said he was a graduate from Hebei Academy of Fine Arts, said that besides workers, there several recent graduates were there from different colleges and universities.

"We were standing on the scaffolding and sculpting. Suddenly the scaffolding fell and we were buried," he said.

The earth pile above those buried was about 50 centimeters high, with many steel tubes scattered in it, reported the Beijing News.

According to the press release from the Beijing Firefighting Bureau, 16 fire trucks were sent to the scene.