7 die when boulder crashes down on tourists at popular attraction
Print Edition
SEVEN people died and 25 others, including eight tourists from Taiwan, were injured when a huge boulder fell off a mountain in south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region yesterday.
Four were confirmed dead at the scene while three others were declared dead after they had been taken to hospital following the early morning incident at the Diecai Mountain scenic resort in Guilin.
As of yesterday afternoon, 13 of the injured had left hospital after treatment, including seven of the Taiwanese. Another two people had received surgery while the rest 10 were said to be in a stable condition.
Staff at Guilin No. 2 People’s Hospital told news website sina.com.cn that the dead and the injured were all in their 60s and 70s and belonged to a tourist group.
Local reports estimated that the boulder was about 3 meters in diameter.
An investigation is under way into the incident at the entrance of the Mulong cave at the foot of the mountain.
There had been a similar incident at the same spot about two years ago, but no one was hurt on that occasion.
Subsequently, a warning sign was set up to alert tourists to the danger of possible rock falls.
Geological inspectors found at that time that there was a risk that a large rock above the cave, which was estimated to weigh some 3 to 4 tons, could fall.
The sign states: “Please don’t linger around this area which is vulnerable to geological disasters due to dangerous rocks.”
Sina quoted online speculation that the construction of a public toilet next to the cave might be to blame.
Construction is said to have started about a month ago.
There were claims that the work was in breach of a city regulation that bans construction within 20 meters of protected areas such as Diecai Mountain.
Local geological authority officials said they had embarked on an across-the-board inspection of all locations that might pose a danger.
Guilin is famous for its mountainous landscape, with soluble rocks on the mountains prone to landfalls, according to local residents.
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