Chinese authorities have charged 23 people with offences which contributed to the collapse of a quarantine hotel in March.
The 66-room Xinjia Hotel in Quanzhou collapsed killing 29 people and injuring 42.
It was housing dozens of guests who had returned from regions with high infection rates of Covid-19.
After a three-month investigation, officials found that three floors had been added to the hotel’s four-story structure illegally without permits.
According to TV news station CCTV, safety officials had conspired with the hotel owner to falsify documents.
‘Criminal enforcement measures’ were imposed on 23 people responsible for the construction, and local officials are being investigated for possible corrupt practises, CCTV said in a broadcast.
Quanzhou’s mayor Wang Yongli and other city officials were reprimanded for ‘dereliction of duty.’
