Six detained for partial collapse of ice rink in Jilin caused by substandard construction quality

Six people have been detained for suspected criminal involvement in the partial collapse of an ice rink in Baicheng, Northeast China's Jilin Province, the provincial authorities announced on Friday, revealing the investigation result of the collapse.

The collapse on November 18 was caused by substandard construction quality, the Jilin authorities revealed. Apart from the six, other persons responsible remain under investigation, China Central Television reported on Saturday.

The investigation was announced during a provincial production safety meeting chaired by Jilin provincial governor Hu Yuting, Jilin Daily reported. At the meeting, Hu stressed that relevant authorities should address major safety risks while learning from incidents of the same kind elsewhere, and turning lessons into preventive measures.

Hu also urged the need to strengthen accountability for incidents and dig out the roots of the problem. Meanwhile, regular professional inspections should be in place and focus on key issues.

Special attention should be placed on high-risk areas such as commercial venues, large buildings, crowded places, and self-built commercial properties. A comprehensive safety review should be conducted across the province to identify design flaws, construction quality issues, and potential hazards, the governor said.

Further, responsibilities must be clarified to prevent accidents due to negligence, the Jilin Daily report noted.

As the year-end and early-year is a time period of high incident occurrences, Hu said the local government must maintain vigilance, enhance risk assessment, and protect against major accidents.

Part of the roof of an ice rink in Baicheng of Jilin collapsed in the early morning of November 18, with no injuries or casualties reported, according to CCTV. Local officials had said that preliminary findings suggest the accident was caused by deformation of the rooftop steel structure, potentially due to construction quality issues.