Society

Two dead, 97 buried after SW China landslide

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-06-30 02:23

Rescuers clean up debris from the landslide which fell onto the roads leading into Dazhai Village Monday, June 28, 2010. [Photo/Xinhua]

GUANLING, Guizhou - Rescuers Tuesday recovered bodies of two people from the scene of a rainstorm-triggered landslide, and 97 others were still buried in the disaster in southwest China's Guizhou Province Monday afternoon.

The body of a child, the first to be retrieved though yet to be identified, was found at 5:50 p.m. under debris in Dazhai Village, Gangwu Township of Anshun City's Guanling County, said a spokesman of rescue headquarters.

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The rescue headquarters corrected the number of buried villagers from 107 to 99 late Tuesday night after further checks. Some villagers were previously thought missing but later found alive.

The villagers were buried by about one million cubic meters of mud at 2:30 p.m. Monday and their chances of survival were said to be "slim."

"The landslide lasted only two minutes, without any warning. It was very difficult for the villagers to escape," said an official with the Guizhou Provincial Work Safety Bureau.

Around 3 p.m. Tuesday ten excavators entered the site after rescuers  removed debris from the landslide which fell onto the roads leading into the village.

However, rescuers made slow progress due to a combination of adverse factors, said Luo Rongbin, deputy mayor of Anshun City who led the rescue work.

The high likelihood of additional landslides resulting from persistent rains, a confined workspace and the soft ground added significant difficulties to the rescue work involving about 1,100 workers, Luo said.

More than 1,000 nearby villagers have been evacuated and over 500 more are waiting to be relocated, said the headquarters officials.

Wu Guangxiang, 59, a resident from Bawan Village near the scene of the landslide, and her grandson, were evacuated to a resettlement area Monday night. The local government has provided milk, biscuits, bottled water and instant noodle to the evacuees.

"The noodles were tasty. But I wonder when I could return home, " said Wu as she took shelter in a tent Tuesday morning.

By 2 p.m. Tuesday, the provincial civil affair department had sent 222 tents, 1000 quilts, 150 beds and two tonnes of emergency food to aid the resettled residents.

A new round of downpours hit Guizhou again from 8 a.m. Monday to 8 a.m. Tuesday. It affected 166,200 people, collapsed 265 more houses and caused additional economic losses of 40 million yuan (5.9 million U.S. dollars), according to the provincial Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters in a statement.

Further, 2,560 people in five villages were trapped in water as deep as 1.5 meters at Qiannan Buyi and Miao Autonomous Prefecture Tuesday, officials said.

Torrential rains have also plagued Guizhou's neighboring Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Sichuan Province.

A rain-triggered landslide hit Xiaopingshan Town, Xingye County of Guangxi at 2:20 p.m. Tuesday, killing two villagers, said Xie Wei, deputy head of the town government.

In Sichuan, three people were still missing after a landslide struck at Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture Sunday afternoon, said a spokesman with the prefecture government.

A total of 513 highways were severed by floods or flood-triggered accidents in Guangxi, though 368 roads had been repaired as of 9 a.m. Tuesday, said a spokesman with the provincial Transport Department.