Landslide forces villagers to evacuate
(China Daily)
Updated: 2004-04-06 00:32

A landslide in the Northwest China's Shaanxi Province on Sunday forced 680 local people to be evacuated although no casualties were reported.

Nearly 4,000 cubic metres of loess poured into the local Shuilian River when the landslide occurred at 1 am on Sunday in Xiagou Village, Binxian County. It was the third landslide in the region this year.

All the 680 villagers had already been evacuated safely,and the government handed out 90 tents to shelter nearly 400 people, said Zhang Quan, a local official.

He said it is difficult to clean up the river right now because the landslide is still continuing. "But efforts have been made to divert the overflowing river water into a nearby ditch to avoid damage to crops," he added.

A villager said the water level had risen by five to six metres.

The county's water resources department was evaluating the affected area at press time.

Local officials say the ground beneath Xiagou is almost empty,a result of excess digging and exploration for coal in three old mines in the area.

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