19 dead as elevator falls 30 floors

A platform elevator at a construction site in southern China plunged 30 floors in a free-fall today, killing 19 workers, the Xinhua News Agency reports. The news agency says the accident occurred in Wuhan city in Hubei province. The elevator dropped 328 feet, according to a government notice posted by local Wuhan newspapers on their official microblogging sites, the Associated Press reports. The notice says the municipal government will halt all construction in Wuhan for security checks. Source: USA TODAY