All construction sites in Hubei province have suspended operations for safety checks after 19 painters died on Thursday from an elevator's 100-meter fall to the ground in Wuhan, the provincial capital.

The Department of Housing and the Urban-Rural Construction Department of Hubei province issued the announcement Thursday night, saying that safety checks on all construction projects must be completed by Sept 25.

The 19 victims had gone up the elevator outside the residential building under construction at about 1 pm on Thursday as usual in Donghujingyuan, a real estate project of Wuhan.