2 bodies found; 81 still buried in Tibet mudslide
Source: Agencies |
March 31, 2013, Sunday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
RESCUERS in mountainous Tibet digging for victims of a massive landslide at a gold mining site found two bodies yesterday, a day after 83 workers were buried in the disaster.
The fate of the other victims was unknown.
The workers were buried early Friday when about 2 million cubic meters of mud, rock and debris swept through the mine in Gyama village in Maizhokunggar county and covered an area measuring around 4 square kilometers.
By 8pm yesterday, 3,500 rescuers with sniffer dogs and 300 large scale machineries were working on the high-altitude, mountainous area yesterday, but search efforts slowed by snow early in the afternoon.
According to Xinhua news agency, the body was retrieved at 5:35pm, nearly 36 hours after the landslide slammed through the area, about 70 kilometers east of Lhasa, the regional capital, and buried the workers, who were believed to have been sleeping in their tents.
The miners worked for Huatailong Mining Development, a subsidiary of the China National Gold Group Corp, a state-owned enterprise and the country's largest gold producer.
Two of the buried workers are Tibetans, and two are women.
The authorities have identified all the victims but have not released their personal information.
Yesterday afternoon, rescuers were still digging with their bare hands, as the narrow and damaged local roads had prevented much large-scale machinery from reaching, said Xinhua reporters at the site.
Snow started to fall at 1pm, which made conditions more difficult, they added.
Speaking at the site, Yang Dongliang, head of the State Administration of Work Safety, said a team has been formed to investigate the cause of the landslide.
He Yuan, aged 19, is among those buried, said Yuan Song, an uncle from his mother's side.
Yuan Song, a native of Xishui County, Guizhou Province, spoke to Xinhua as he waited at an airport in Chongqing Municipality to board a flight to Lhasa as a family representative.
"My nephew started working when he was 16 to pay back family debt," Yuan said, adding that his nephew was thought to have earned 8,000 yuan (US$1,288) to 9,000 yuan a month.
Yuan said his nephew was father to a one-year-old child.
Yuan also had other relatives working in the mine, he said.
According to the city of Zunyi, which has jurisdiction over the Xishui County, 14 buried workers were from the county.
Altitude sickness
As the site is at an altitude of more than 4,600 meters, most rescuers have been suffering from slight altitude sickness, said one member of the group.
Minor landslides have also hampered rescue efforts, while temperatures as low as minus three degrees Celsius have affected the sense of smell of sniffer dogs.
Officials said the miners' survival chances were slim due to the scale of the landslide.
By noon, more than 300,000 cubic meters of debris had been removed, said Jiang Yi, a police officer engaged in the rescue.
Jiang said there were cracks along nearby mountains, which indicated a possibility of subsequent disasters.
A team of geologists has been formed to monitoring the situation, said officials.
The fate of the other victims was unknown.
The workers were buried early Friday when about 2 million cubic meters of mud, rock and debris swept through the mine in Gyama village in Maizhokunggar county and covered an area measuring around 4 square kilometers.
By 8pm yesterday, 3,500 rescuers with sniffer dogs and 300 large scale machineries were working on the high-altitude, mountainous area yesterday, but search efforts slowed by snow early in the afternoon.
According to Xinhua news agency, the body was retrieved at 5:35pm, nearly 36 hours after the landslide slammed through the area, about 70 kilometers east of Lhasa, the regional capital, and buried the workers, who were believed to have been sleeping in their tents.
The miners worked for Huatailong Mining Development, a subsidiary of the China National Gold Group Corp, a state-owned enterprise and the country's largest gold producer.
Two of the buried workers are Tibetans, and two are women.
The authorities have identified all the victims but have not released their personal information.
Yesterday afternoon, rescuers were still digging with their bare hands, as the narrow and damaged local roads had prevented much large-scale machinery from reaching, said Xinhua reporters at the site.
Snow started to fall at 1pm, which made conditions more difficult, they added.
Speaking at the site, Yang Dongliang, head of the State Administration of Work Safety, said a team has been formed to investigate the cause of the landslide.
He Yuan, aged 19, is among those buried, said Yuan Song, an uncle from his mother's side.
Yuan Song, a native of Xishui County, Guizhou Province, spoke to Xinhua as he waited at an airport in Chongqing Municipality to board a flight to Lhasa as a family representative.
"My nephew started working when he was 16 to pay back family debt," Yuan said, adding that his nephew was thought to have earned 8,000 yuan (US$1,288) to 9,000 yuan a month.
Yuan said his nephew was father to a one-year-old child.
Yuan also had other relatives working in the mine, he said.
According to the city of Zunyi, which has jurisdiction over the Xishui County, 14 buried workers were from the county.
Altitude sickness
As the site is at an altitude of more than 4,600 meters, most rescuers have been suffering from slight altitude sickness, said one member of the group.
Minor landslides have also hampered rescue efforts, while temperatures as low as minus three degrees Celsius have affected the sense of smell of sniffer dogs.
Officials said the miners' survival chances were slim due to the scale of the landslide.
By noon, more than 300,000 cubic meters of debris had been removed, said Jiang Yi, a police officer engaged in the rescue.
Jiang said there were cracks along nearby mountains, which indicated a possibility of subsequent disasters.
A team of geologists has been formed to monitoring the situation, said officials.
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