Death toll in Chinese hotel collapse raised to 17; 23 freed

The death toll in the collapse of a hotel in eastern China has been raised to 17 as authorities called an end to the search and rescue mission

China Hotel Collapse (Xinhua)

The death toll in the collapse of a hotel in eastern China was raised to 17 Wednesday as authorities ended the search and rescue mission.

The city of Suzhou said on its social media feed that 23 people had been pulled alive from the rubble of the Kaiyuan Hotel, which collapsed on Tuesday afternoon.

Rescuers used cranes, ladders, metal cutters and search dogs to look for survivors. Twenty-three people had been trapped.

Most of those killed were hotel guests.

More than 600 people including earthquake rescue teams and 120 vehicles were been mobilized for the operation. Suzhou city is in Jiangsu province near Shanghai