At least 17 people were killed when an unfinished factory in Shijiazhuang, Hebei, collapsed during a rainstorm yesterday morning.
A representative of Tengfei Malleable Iron Casting, the company that owned the building, was detained by police after the incident.
The factory was being built in the city's Changan district. Witnesses told Xinhua the building was struck by lightning. It then collapsed, burying more than 20 construction workers and onlookers who had gone inside to seek shelter from the storm.
The facade of a neighbouring building was also damaged.
The city's publicity bureau said about 150 firefighters and 200 police officers were deployed to search for victims, while diggers were used to remove bricks, concrete and iron strewn around the site.
Seventeen bodies were found and three injuries reported. Xinhua quoted local residents saying a group of children were seen playing nearby, but no young victims were reported.
