By The Associated Press
BEIJING -- A platform elevator at a construction site in southern China dropped 30 floors in a free fall on Thursday, killing 19 workers, Chinese state media reported.
The accident happened Thursday in Wuhan city in Hubei province, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.
The elevator fell 328 feet, according to a government notice posted by local Wuhan newspapers on their official microblogging sites.
The notice said the municipal government would halt all construction in Wuhan for security checks.
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Work safety is a big problem in China, where regulations are routinely ignored.
Although the government says it is taking measures to reduce fatalities, more than 75,500 people died in work-related accidents last year, according to the State Administration of Work Safety.
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