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Schools Built Too Fast, China Says

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The Associated Press

Published: September 5, 2008

BEIJING - Nearly four months after China's devastating earthquake, a government scientist acknowledged Thursday that a rush to build schools in recent years likely led to construction flaws that caused so many of them to collapse.

It was the first official admission that lax building standards may have been behind the deaths of thousands of children.
Government critics have raised questions about shoddy construction after the 7.9-magnitude quake killed nearly 70,000 people in Sichuan province, including many students crushed to death when their classrooms crumbled.

Ma Zongjin, chairman of a committee of experts investigating the May 12 earthquake, said Thursday that poor-quality construction materials were one possible reason more than 1,000 schools were damaged. The government has said about 7,000 classrooms were destroyed.

"In recent years, a lot of school buildings have been built in China, and in this process of rapid development, some problems may exist," said Ma, a geologist. "The structure of the school buildings may not be reasonable enough, and the related construction materials may not be strong enough."

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