The lack of binding beams was the cause of a warehouse collapse under construction that killed one person and injured at least nine others in Binh Duong Province Saturday, authorities concluded Monday.

The beams weighing dozens of tons, which did not have supporting pillars, collapsed, followed by freshly laid concrete, the workers said.

An official from the Construction Department, whose name was not released, shook his head when checking the site on Monday, saying the constructor, Gia Thuy Company, was “too careless.”

There’s also suspicion that a crane’s operations might have added to the collapse. Initial investigations indicate that the arm of a crane which was being used in the warehouse construction might have been broken off and fallen on some beams, triggering the collapse, local newswire Dan Tri said Sunday.

The name of the crane operator has not been released.

Doan Van Tuan, 28, from the northern province of Nghe An, was killed on the way to hospital after an iron beam fell on him. The others injured have been sent to Thuan An Hospital and three persons with head injuries have been taken to the Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City.

There are usually 100 people working at the warehouse, which has been under construction for two months, but only 30 or so were still there at the time it collapsed, workers said.

The house was part of a US$14 million logistics store center called YCH-Protrade, or YCH-Protrade DistriPark, a project jointly executed by the YCH Corp. of Singapore and Binh Duong Export Import and Production Co., the latter being the main investor in the project.

Guards of the company and local police have cordoned off the site to carry out further investigations.

Tran Van Dung, director of Binh Duong Construction Department, said he will check to see if the warehouse has been approved for construction, the Vietnam News Agency reported.

Buried alive

Also on Saturday, thousands of cubic meters of soil from the dumping ground of the Nam Toc Hydropower Plant in the northern province of Yen Bai buried four houses in Ve village of Van Chan District at around 5a.m., killing 3-year-old Lo Thi Hiep.

All the assets of the four families including their harvested rice, four buffalos and a motorbike were also buried. Four other houses were also damaged and the owners had to evacuate.

Soil and rock from road and ditch construction for the Nam Toc power plant, invested in by Thanh Binh Ltd., were discharged at a site above Ve village. Rains on Friday night caused landslides from the dump.

More than 400 people around the district were mobilized to help the victims and make temporary refuges for the victims.

This is the first landslide experienced by the Ve villagers since they moved here in 1964.

Local residents said many of them were preparing to go to the field around the time of the landslide, otherwise the casualties could have been much more.

Authorities have given the four families whose houses were buried ex-gratia payments of VND6 million ($325) each, including the family of the dead child, while those whose houses were damaged received VND3 million each.

Source: Thanh Nien, Tuoi Tre