11 dead after gym roof collapses in China

       Eleven people have been killed when a roof collapsed at a middle school gym in China.

       The last victim was pulled from the wreckage on Monday after the structure caved in on Sunday in the city of Qiqihar.

       Xinhua News Agency said building work at the school was the likely cause after workers had stored materials on the gym's roof which soaked up rain water.

       Xinhua reported 19 people had been in the gymnasium of the No. 34 Middle School at the time of the collapse, but it gave no details as to how many were students.

       Video footage showed scores of rescue workers outside the building amid piles of rubble in a desperate search for survivors.

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       An aerial view of the gym shows the scale of the collapse (Image: Weibo)

       Rescue workers at the school in China's Heilongjiang province (Image: Getty)

       Witnesses have said there was nowhere to hide for the people inside the gym, but amid the devastation rescue workers found the volleyball team's coach alive after he was heard calling out the girls' names.

       Distraught parents waited at a local hospital for news of their children with one man among them who claimed to be the father of a dead student. He said there had been no updates from officials for hours.

       In a video posted on social media, the angry dad complained the government had sent police to keep a watch on parents, but did not send anyone to update them about their loved ones.

       An ambulance outside the school in Qiqihar (Image: Getty)

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       He said: "They tell me my daughter is gone, but we never got to see the child. All the children had their faces covered with mud and blood when they were sent to the hospital. I pleaded, 'Please let me identify the child'. What if, that wasn't my child?"

       Social media and the Baidu news website carried footage of angry parents complaining about what they said was a lack of communication from authorities.

       Expressions of anger and defiance are usually quickly put down by police and government officials worried about social unrest.

       The ruling Communist Party allows no challenges to its authority and seeks to keep total control over the press and social media.

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       The emergency services in Qiqihar (Image: Getty)

       One eye-witness told state radio the volleyball team was made up of students from different year groups who had returned to the school a few days ago after a competition.

       An aerial view of the scene showed the collapsed roof with rescue workers in the gym next to large lumps of concrete. Other pictures showed tall cranes to the side of the school building.

       The region and several areas in China saw heavy rain at the weekend, with flooding and damage in some parts.

       Xinhua reported an investigation has been launched with those in charge of the construction company taken into police custody.

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       Construction and industrial accidents regularly happen in China, largely resulting from companies ignoring safety standards and corruption or a lack of diligence on the part of local government agencies.

       Those problems are especially acute in second and third-tier cities such as Qiqihar, which lies in the Chinese rustbelt province of Heilongjiang.

       Bordering Russia, the province has seen wide-scale economic decline and outward migration over recent years.

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