22 dead as homes collapse in China

Homes described as old and decrepit fell down on Monday in eastern China where six survivors were pulled from the rubble on the outskirts of Wenzhou city.

According to China state media, the death toll has risen to at least 22 in the collapse of a group of homes in eastern China.

Media reports say the six survivors were pulled from the rubble on the outskirts of the city of Wenzhou in Zhejiang province, adding search and rescue efforts were "basically over".

Pictures from the scene following the collapse showed workers in orange suits sifting through a mountain of rubble.

"To protect those who are trapped, we are mainly digging with our bare hands so that work is going slowly. The debris was piled three storeys high," a fire department officer Sun Jing told Xinhua News Agency.

The cause of the collapses was under investigation.

Reports said the four buildings were built in the 1970s by their farmer owners and were in a highly degraded state.

Extra floors had been added over the years, making them between three and five storeys high and further weakening their structures.

Reports say five adjacent houses built in the 1970s remained standing, but rescuers were demolishing them to avoid secondary disasters.

Poor construction quality has long been a problem in China, particularly in the countryside and smaller cities.

In May, 16 people were reported dead after a residential building in Guizhou province in the south-west collapsed due to landslides.

Two people were killed and 24 injured in April when a storm brought down a wholesale market building in Foshan city in the southern province of Guangdong.