Collapse of Shanxi Tai Mountain Scenic Area Museum - Multiple Buildings Reduced to Flat Ground

Recently, an incident occurred in Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province, China, where a building in a scenic area collapsed. On the 3rd, videos emerged online depicting a building at the Tai Mountain Museum scenic area in Taiyuan City suddenly collapsing, filling the air with dust, causing cracks on the ground, and reducing multiple buildings to flat ground. The scenic area reported on Friday (6th) that the collapsed buildings were not cultural relics, there were no casualties, and an investigation into the cause is underway.

Recently, videos related to the collapse of the Shanxi Tai Mountain Scenic Area Museum have circulated online. According to a report by Poster News, eyewitnesses stated that on June 3rd, some tourists were told by staff, upon arriving at the scenic area entrance, that the mountain was closed and entry was prohibited.

That evening, the Tai Mountain Museum announced a temporary closure due to a "geological disaster" with reopening dates to be further notified.

CNR News released aerial footage showing severe collapses of some buildings within the Tai Mountain Scenic Area after the incident, with several buildings reduced to flat ground. A large pit appeared on a mountain slope surrounding the buildings, exposing a large amount of yellow soil.

On the 6th, Shanxi Taiyuan Tai Mountain Scenic Area released a notice regarding "the partial collapse situation of buildings in the East Slope area of Tai Mountain Scenic Area," indicating that around 2:15 PM on the 3rd, the buildings in the East Slope area of Tai Mountain Scenic Area experienced partial collapse. The notice stated that the collapsed buildings are situated outside the protection scope of Tai Mountain Longquan Temple and the construction control zone, which are nationally designated key cultural relics, thus they are not cultural relics. This collapse covered approximately 35 meters, causing surrounding ground cracks and cave-ins but no casualties.

In fact, in July 2022, the mountain area around the East Slope of this scenic area experienced localized collapses due to heavy rainfall, after which the surrounding collapse areas were designated as key risk prevention zones. According to Chinese media reports, the collapsed buildings from this incident are located within the key risk prevention and closed management zones.

The Tai Mountain Museum is located about 20 kilometers southwest of Taiyuan City in Shanxi Province, within the Fengyu Valley, covering an area of approximately 3.6 million square meters. In 2013, the State Council designated it as the seventh batch of national key cultural relics protection units, and the buildings that collapsed this time included the Root Carving Art Museum and some exhibition halls.