59 missing after S. China landslide
Print Edition
AT least 59 people are missing following a landslide yesterday morning that engulfed buildings in and around an industrial park in Shenzhen, south China’s Guangdong Province, authorities said.
At least seven people were rescued after 33 buildings were buried or damaged and an area of 20,000 square meters was covered in earth, Yang Feng, director of the emergency affairs office of the Shenzhen city government, told a press conference last night.
Signs of life had been detected at three separate locations at the site, the rescue headquarters said.
Rescuers, however, are battling unfavorable geological conditions to save those trapped under mud, it said.
“The site is quite narrow and located on a slope, so it’s very difficult for vehicles to enter,” said Ao Zhuoqian with Shenzhen’s fire control department.
“We have to go there on foot.”
A nearby section of a natural gas pipeline exploded after the landslide struck the Hengtaiyu industrial park in the Guangming New District about 11:40am.
A report by China Central Television said the air at the site was foul smelling due to a gas leak.
Shenzhen’s fire brigade said that only one building collapsed, but that the landslide had affected a large area in the northwest of the city.
Yang said 36 males and 23 females were missing as of 11pm. About 900 people had been evacuated.
More than 1,500 firefighters and police are engaged in rescue efforts, the district government said.
According to the Shenzhen Emergency Management Office, two hospitals received 13 people who were hurt in the incident. Three are said to have suffered severe injuries, though none of them were life-threatening.
A video clip on Sina Weibo shows the area being rocked as earth descended on it, and a roaring sound can be heard.
A man who works in the industrial park said the power in his office went off about noon.
“I saw red earth and mud running towards the building. Fortunately, it wasn’t hit, and everyone was evacuated,” he said.
The landslide engulfed a fish pond before burying buildings, with water splashing up to three stories high.
“Without the pond’s buffer, there would have been more damage,” he said.
A woman surnamed Hu told the Shenzhen Evening News she saw her father engulfed by earth as he was sitting in his truck.
“It’s been hours since he was buried, and we’re quite worried,” she said.
A witness surnamed Jiang told the Beijing Youth Daily: “I saw five or six buildings being buried. Some of them were workers’ dormitories. I guess several hundred people are trapped.”
A man surnamed Tian told the Shenzhen Special Zone Daily that he had managed to escape from one of the buildings, but that his boss and four family members had been trapped inside.
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