Nine people were killed and two others remained trapped after the roof of a school gymnasium collapsed in Qiqihar city of northeast China`s Heilongjiang province. Nineteen people were at the gymnasium covering about 1,200 square metres at the No. 34 Middle School in Longsha district on Sunday when the accident occurred.

The municipal search and rescue headquarters said four people escaped, and 15 were trapped. So far, 13 people have been recovered, with three pulled out without vital signs and six died after treatment failed, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported on Monday. Rescue efforts are still underway.