Scaffold collapses in China and kills worker after ice sculpture melts

A giant frozen waterfall set up to welcome the Chinese New Year crushed one man to death and left five seriously injured when it collapsed as it melted in a sudden warm front.

The 30ft high sculpture came crashing down in Haerbin, Hei Longjiang province, north-eastern China, as workers began to dismantle it following the celebrations.

Eyewitness Lin Hu, 43, said: “I was passing by and then I heard a loud crack and then I saw lots of workers on the scaffolding falling off. You could see the ice had started to melt because there was water all over the ground.”

A town spokesman said: “One worker, Mi Xu, died in the collapse. We had just started to get it demolished when it fell apart.”