If you guessed "that's a picture of a brand new apartment building in Shanghai that just fell over" you were right!
Look at this thing...
If you want to watch a video of the story (in English) you can see it here...
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=14192385&ch=4226714&src=news
This happened yesterday here in Shanghai, in the Minhang district of the city. The cause is "under investigation," but the real question is what about the other buildings in the complex... anybody want to live in any of the buildings that didn't fall over? These are brand new buildings!
The other question is of building quality/standards in China in general. Everybody knows of China's rapid development, but in its haste to modernized a lot of safety precautions and margins are ignored. Last month an overpass in Wuhan collapsed during rush hour and I've commented previously on this blog about construction quality when a tunnel for a subway being dug in Hangzhou collapsed causing injury and death to the travelers on the road above it.
And don't forget all the schools in Sichuan province that collapsed in last year's earth quake when most of the buildings next to them remained standing... schools that were supposed to be built to magnitude 6 standards, but weren't because of bribery.
So look at this building again. Unfortunately lots more of these "accidents" will have to happen before reform and the rule of law will come into play in China and government officials and business people are held accountable for their actions. Buildings like this just don't fall over!
5 comments:
Wow, That's Crazy! Was anyone hurt in the fall?
Oh my gosh!! And maybe I'm morbid, but that gave me a really good laugh. I hope no one was hurt. I don't think I have ever seen a building just fall over for no reason...though I think if I built a building it would do that.
ummmmm... i know you have loved your stay over there, maybe just one little reason you should be happy to walk on American soil again. not good. even the buildings come with a sticker! "Made in China," I hope it doesn't haunt Ryann the rest of her life!
That is a crazy pic. That would never happen if grandpa craig was building it but if it was little grandma? Dad is wanting me to have my eyes checked because he thinks it will help me read a map. (don't tell him any different)
LOL! Love the way all the windows are fully in tact, lol! I bet all the floors were beautifully polished and everything!
Like it amazes me when all the beautiful expat houses go up, the hundreds of thousands of dollars... and yet nobody inspects the caulking around the shower.
Then one day, while an unsuspecting TaiTai is showering, her Ayi flings the door open (okay, and how many times has this happened where I flash the woman in the shower b/c she wants to tell me something, and can't wait another 3 minutes).
"Suzanne! Come downstairs, turn off the water". I go down to see literally a flood coming through the ceililng.
... just because you wanted to see a blog post in your comment box. But I had to share the whole story.
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