A new hotel that was used to quarantine possible corona patients in the South-Chinese coastal city of Quanzhou collapsed on Saturday.

According to local media, about seventy people are buried under the rubble. The authorities reported that at least 37 people had been rescued for the time being.

About 150 rescue workers are looking for more victims, state media reported.

The two-year-old hotel Xinjia was recently equipped to accommodate people who had been in contact with coronavirus patients.

46 cases of the new coronavirus have been detected in Quanzhou. The virus originates from Wuhan in central China, approximately 750 kilometres northwest of Quanzhou.

In China, there are relatively many collapses of buildings and accidents at construction sites.

The many years of the rapid growth of the economy and the ignoring of safety regulations in the construction of buildings contribute to this.