Three people died and seven people were injured when a four-storied house under construction collapsed in the southern province of Binh Duong on Saturday afternoon.

“The house owner and I were standing next to the construction site when its concrete covers started to break and very quickly fell down,” Nguyen Van Tien, a local resident, told Tuoi Tre. The owner was not injured in the accident.

The Binh Duong People’s Committee mobilized hundreds of people and cranes and rushed them to the site for rescuing victims.

The house, owned by Pham Xuan On, broke ground in February and was almost complete when the incident took place. It was only licensed for two stories, according to unnamed sources.

An inspection conducted by Binh Duong police on Sunday showed that the house’s foundation and floors were too weak.

Provincial police were investigating the case to identify those responsible, Dang Minh Hung, chairman of Di An District’s People’s Committee, told Thanh Nien.

However, Hung said that as the provincial authorities had assigned Dai Nam Joint-stock Company to invest in the Song Than area, the company would be responsible for construction mistakes.

Dai Nam’s representative, meanwhile, blamed the house owner and the contractor for the incident, stressing that local authorities were supposed to supervise construction works.

“Under Binh Duong People’s Committee’s regulations, Dai Nam is only in charge of receiving design documents and instructing house owners to complete all necessary procedures for construction,” the representative said.

Reported by Hoang Tuan