Landslide in China kills 8, at least 34 missing: Officials
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Rescue workers searching for survivors at the site of a landslide in Pengshui county in Chongqing, China, on July 17.
PHOTO: AFP
BEIJING – A landslide in south-west China killed at least eight people and left 34 missing on July 17, the local authorities said, with Chinese President Xi Jinping urging comprehensive inspections as rescue efforts were ongoing.
The landslide happened around 9.10am local time in Chongqing’s Pengshui county, with more than 800 rescuers deployed to the site, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
County leader Ren Xujiang told a press conference that 18 people who were trapped were rescued. Among those, eight were pronounced dead.
Footage shared by CCTV showed a huge build-up of rocks and dirt covering part of a residential and commercial street at the bottom of a mountain in the region.
Clips also aired by the broadcaster showed people yelling and running away from a cloud of dust.
The area where the landslide happened is known for “unpredictable” steep terrain, a local official told a press conference late on July 17, adding that dangerous rocks still remain along the sides of the cliff.
The government allocated 50 million yuan (S$9.5 million) in natural disaster relief funds to support the rescue and relief operations and to provide assistance to affected residents, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Emergency Management said.
Xi urged the authorities to swiftly determine the cause of the disaster, and to “identify and eliminate geological disaster risks and other potential hazards”.
The landslide in Chongqing comes less than two weeks after another landslide in north-western Gansu province buried 33 people, 21 of whom were killed. AFP
