One person was confirmed dead and four others injured in a dismantlement accident that occurred last Friday morning in Xiangtan City, central China's Hunan Province, a local newspaper reported on Monday.

The paper said at around 9:00 Friday morning, five workers were demolishing a two-story building at Dongping Town of Yuetang District, when the roof and part of walls of the building's second story collapsed suddenly, burying the five immediately. The buried were rescued by fire fighters and other workers at the spot around 10:40. One of the five, 47 years old, died later in hospital and the remaining four are now out of danger, according to the Sanxiang Metropolis newspaper.

The contractor of the house demolition project initially attempted to cover up the accident by forbidding workers to report to the local police and then hired a gang to attack the journalists who covered the news at the site, the newspaper said. The reporters, one of them was once knocked down, were rescued by the fire fighters, the paper added.

(Xinhua News Agency October 24, 2005)