Bad bricks

Concerns of corruption have once again surfaced in China amid an earthquake tragedy. The investigative magazine Caijing reported this week that hollow bricks used in buildings in southern Yunnan province may have been at fault for half of the 25 deaths in an 5.8-magnitude earthquake there last Thursday.

Caijing cited several examples of people who died in buildings made with hollow bricks in Yingjiang, a city at the heart of the earthquake that left thousands of people homeless and injured more than 300. The news is a reminder of China’s Sichuan earthquake disaster, which killed nearly 90,000 in May of 2008. The government has never released a full investigation into the deaths of thousands of children at schools in the region, despite public outcry over corruption and the use of shoddy building materials.