Recently, in Shanghai, a woman in her 60s was sweeping the floor at home when suddenly she stepped through the floor and fell into the neighbor’s house on the second floor, attracting attention online.
According to “Knews News,” Ms. Chen, a woman in her 60s in Shanghai, lives at No. 62 Wanhangdu Road Zhongxing Xiaoqu. The building was built in 1929, making it 96 years old. Despite several repairs, the wooden structure floor and stairs have become very fragile.
On the evening of February 10th, while sweeping the floor at her home on the third floor, Ms. Chen suddenly stepped through the floor and fell into the neighbor’s house on the second floor. Ms. Xia, the neighbor on the second floor, said, “I was sitting here, my husband was cooking here, and then there was a loud noise. There was an extra person in our house. I asked my husband, ‘Why is there someone here?’ He said, ‘Someone fell from above.'”
Fortunately, after a hospital check, Ms. Chen was not injured. However, afterwards, Ms. Chen still felt lingering fear: “It might have been bitten by termites, bitten badly, people are more important, it’s a big deal for me, someone as old as me falling down.”
Photos from the scene show a large hole left on the kitchen floor of Ms. Chen’s house, with wooden debris all around.
In response to this, Mr. He Yongliang, the property manager of Zhongxing Xiaoqu, stated that the main reason for the floor breaking may be that the load-bearing beams were eaten away by termites. Two layers of composite flooring were laid below, with cement on top. Although there were no visible signs of trouble, termites had long been wreaking havoc in the interlayer.
The news has attracted attention online. Many netizens commented, “Old houses in Shanghai all have wooden floors.” “There are many more of these wooden-structured old houses in Shanghai.” “I just renovated a house near Jing’an Temple Children’s Hospital before the New Year, and it’s also an old wooden-structured house. It looks fine on the outside, but inside, it looks like a dangerous house.”
“These old houses should be demolished, otherwise if more people come at home, it will collapse.” “These nearly hundred-year-old dilapidated houses are riddled with problems, they should be demolished and rebuilt.”
Overall, the incident sheds light on the potential dangers posed by aging structures in populated areas and the importance of maintaining and renovating older buildings to ensure the safety of residents.