Death toll in China's building collapse rises to 11

The death toll in a building collapse in eastern China after an explosion caused by a gas leak today rose to 11, officials said.

Twenty people were buried after the three-storey building collapsed in Suzhou City in Jiangsu Province following an explosion in the staff canteen on the first floor yesterday.

"Eleven of them died in hospital," state-run Xinhua news agency said today.

The remaining nine are still receiving treatment in two local hospitals, it said.

The office building belonged to a liquefied gas sales branch of the Suzhou Gas Group Co.Ltd.

A preliminary investigation showed that the blast was caused by a gas leak.