A Brief Report on the Collapse of Self-Built Houses on 29 April 2022, in Changsha, China

Abstract

A self-built house collapsed in Changsha City, Hunan Province, on 29 April 2022, causing 53 people to be trapped and 39 people to go missing. The tragedy caused a huge loss of life, so the stability of self-built houses has a non-negligible impaction on public safety. This report presents causes of the incident, rescue operations, cause analysis, and the analytic hierarchy process (AHP). The main conclusions about the reasons for the collapse include: (a) reckless heightening, (b) unreasonable structure, (c) adverse geological conditions, (d) architectural vulnerabilities, (e) negligence of competent authorities, and (f) lack of security awareness. This paper provides a reference for avoiding similar security incidents in the future.