Death toll from East China hotel collapse rises to 17

Beijing-Sana

The death toll from the hotel collapse in east China's Jiangsu Province has risen to 17, with 5 injured, the Chinese authorities announced today.

"The collapse of a hotel annex in Suzhou city yesterday killed 17 people and injured five others," Xinhua quoted authorities in Jiangsu as saying, noting that rescue operations and the search for survivors had stopped.

A previous toll indicated that 8 people were killed and 9 others missing as a result of the accident, which police investigations revealed was the result of unauthorized restoration operations.