60 missing after landslide at mine
Print Edition
MORE than 60 people are missing after a landslide buried the living quarters of a mining company in China under more than 1.3 million cubic meters of earth.
The landslide covered 15 employee dormitories and three houses in Shanyang County in the northwestern province of Shaanxi early yesterday morning.
Rescuers managed to dig out four people who have been admitted to hospital where they are in a stable condition.
Ten people at the Wuzhou Mining Co managed to escape by themselves.
Zhou Kunlin, one of the 10, said: “I was woken up by people shouting about the danger.”
He and several colleagues ran out of the dorm and up the mountain. They were lucky to escape with just minor injuries from falling stones.
“Those who ran down the mountain were buried by the landslide,” he said. “Many just had no time, as the landslide buried the area in mere minutes.”
More than 700 police, firefighters, mining rescuers and paramedics are at the scene. Residents living nearby have been evacuated.
Rescue efforts, however, have been hampered by the unstable environment of the surrounding mountain slopes.
President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang ordered all-out efforts and have warned rescuers to be on their guard against secondary disasters.
The premier ordered quick evacuation of people living around the accident site and an investigation into what caused the incident.
He called for enhanced safety measures, saying other places should learn from the disaster in drawing up contingency plans.
A work team sent by the State Council is on its way to the site to oversee search and rescue efforts.
Villagers believe excessive mining may be to blame as the region has had no rain in recent days.
Shanyang is a vanadium-rich county and several mines are located in the township where the landslide occurred. Residents have often voiced concern about the impact of mining on the environment.
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