Unqualified workers knocking down a load-bearing wall caused the collapse of a three-story building in Songjiang District on Monday, the local housing authority said yesterday.

Rescue efforts were halted after 10 hours at midnight on Monday, after rescuers concluded that there was no one buried under the rubble, the district government said.

The collapse injured a two-and-half-year-old boy and his 22-year-old mother, who were rescued by police officers about 10 minutes after it happened.

The landlord of the building, the leaseholder, and the workers have been detained, and residents of the third floor have been settled in hotels nearby, according to the district government.

Renovation worker Guo Haide, who was being detained yesterday, told Shanghai Television he was the first to realize something was wrong and alerted residents.

"I found cracks on pillars when I came to work, and I knew something was wrong," he told the television station." So I asked other workers to inform the residents upstairs."

According to Guo, they started work in the building on April 2, and their first job was to knock down walls. On Monday morning, they were told to knock down walls facing the street to prepare for the addition of nine shops.

Guo told Shanghai Television Station that none of the workers knew which was the main load-bearing wall and were just told to "knock them down."

"The designer should know where to knock down walls and where not to. We just do the knocking," Guo said.

Lin Peipei, a resident on the third floor, told the TV station: "The workers downstairs told us to run away."

A local resident, surnamed Zhang, told Shanghai Daily: "The collapse has made us worry that it could happen to our home, too. Our complex, like the collapsed one, was also built in the 1980s, and they are similar structures."

Chen Hui, director of a local construction consulting company's housing inspection department, said the building's first floor had load-bearing brickwork supporting precast floor slabs.

"Once the load-bearing brickwork was damaged, the precast slabs fell and caused the collapse," Chen told the television station.

Labor contractor Guo Yaxin, who was responsible for the project, told the television station that he organized temporary teams for jobs and did not know whether his workers were qualified when he recruited them. "I can't afford a regular team. When there's a project, I call them," he said.

The leaseholder of the building, surnamed Shen, said he did not hire a formal construction company for the job because he thought it was "just a small project that should be rather simple."

Ding Hao, deputy director of the district housing authority, told the television station that the collapse occurred due to a lack of proper building management.

According to Ding, residential and business complexes usually have property management companies overseeing work and generally report violations.

"The company will report such violations to the authority so we can stop them in time. However, some old complexes don't have property management companies," said Ding.

The local authorities said those responsible would be held accountable.

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