Deadly collapse at Chinese power station

Image copyrightXINHUA

Image captionXinhua said the death toll was likely to rise because an unknown of people were still trapped in the debris

At least 40 people have been killed when a platform collapsed at a construction site in China's Jiangxi province.

The accident took place at a power plant in Fengcheng where a cooling tower was under construction.

There were a number of people still trapped at the scene, China's Xinhua news agency reported.

Jiangxi province's fire services said 32 fire trucks and 212 soldiers had been deployed.

A total of 68 people were at the construction site at the time of the accident.

Photos posted by Chinese media showed iron pipes and concrete slabs lying on the ground inside the large cooling tower.

According to Jiangxi Daily, two 168m-high cooling towers were being built at the site as part of a project to add two 1,000-megawatt coal-fired power units to the power plant.

Image copyrightXINHUA

Image captionOfficials have ordered a thorough investigation into the cause of the deadly accident

The project will cost 7.67bn yuan ($1.11bn; £0.89bn) .

Fatal accidents are common at industrial sites in China and there have been growing demands for more stringent safety standards.

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