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Restaurant in Northern China Collapses During Birthday Party, Killing 29

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Restaurant in Northern China Collapses During Birthday Party, Killing 29
The site of a collapsed two-story restaurant in Xiangfen County of Linfen City, northern China's Shanxi Province on Aug. 29, 2020. (Yang Chenguang/Xinhua via AP)
The Associated Press
8/30/2020
Updated:
8/30/2020

BEIJING—A two-story restaurant in a northern Chinese village collapsed during a local resident’s 80th birthday celebration, leaving 29 people dead, authorities said Sunday.

The Ministry of Emergency Management said another 28 people were injured, seven of them seriously, when the building suddenly crumbled on Saturday.

There was no immediate word on what caused the collapse or on the fate of the birthday guest and other celebrants.

Rescuers search for victims in the aftermath of the collapse of a two-story restaurant in Xiangfen county in northern China's Shanxi province on Aug. 29, 2020. (Chinatopix Via AP)
Rescuers search for victims in the aftermath of the collapse of a two-story restaurant in Xiangfen county in northern China's Shanxi province on Aug. 29, 2020. (Chinatopix Via AP)

The building collapsed at 9:40 a.m. on Saturday in Xiangfen county in the southwest of Shanxi province, the Ministry of Emergency Management said in a statement.

The region lies in the heart of China’s coal country, where thousands of miners have died in explosions, collapses, and floods over the years.

The site of a collapsed two-story restaurant in Xiangfen County of Linfen City, northern China's Shanxi Province on Aug. 29, 2020. (Yang Chenguang/Xinhua via AP)
The site of a collapsed two-story restaurant in Xiangfen County of Linfen City, northern China's Shanxi Province on Aug. 29, 2020. (Yang Chenguang/Xinhua via AP)