The incident occurred around midnight on Saturday night into Sunday morning, when a building partially collapsed for reasons yet to be determined, according to the Xinhua News Agency.
Search and rescue operations were completed around noon on the 30th, after nine people trapped under the rubble were located. Of these, seven died, while the other two were transported to hospitals and are out of danger.
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Local authorities have launched an investigation to determine the causes of the collapse; however, no details have been released so far regarding the origin of the incident or potential liability.
In July 2023, 11 people died after the roof of a school sports center collapsed in the city of Qiqihar, in the same province. That same year, in November, three people died following the collapse of the roof of another sports center in the city of Jiamusi, also in Heilongjiang.