Rescue teams in race against time to locate 85 still missing
Print Edition
THOUSANDS of rescuers combed through rubble and debris yesterday as the search went on for dozens of people still missing after Sunday’s landslide in the south China city of Shenzhen.
More than 30 buildings in an industrial park in the Guangming district of the city were engulfed when a huge pile of construction waste collapsed about 11:40am on Sunday.
About 900 people were evacuated to temporary settlements, but at least 16, including a 7-year-old child, needed hospital treatment. All were said to be in a stable condition yesterday.
Local authorities said 85 people were missing as of last night. Just seven have so far been rescued.
The landslide covered an area of 380,000 square meters in 10 meters of silt, said Liu Qingsheng, deputy mayor of Shenzhen.
The affected buildings include 14 factories, 13 low-rise buildings, two offices, three dormitories and a canteen.
A section of a major natural gas pipeline burst during the landslide, cutting off supplies to neighboring Hong Kong.
More than 2,900 rescuers, including members of the armed forces, are taking part in the search at the Hengtaiyu industrial park, with support from 406 special vehicles, 123 life detectors and 30 sniffer dogs. Ten doctors from Guangzhou and Beijing are also on hand.
Signs of life have been detected under the mud, but workers were racing against time last night, and five excavators were being used to remove debris.
“The rescue is extremely difficult with mud and silt filling up the excavation,” said Cui Bo, a firefighter from Guangdong.
The State Council yesterday dispatched a team of officials and experts, led by State Councilor Wang Yong, to Shenzhen to oversee the rescue effort.
“The landslide mass is too loose and wet,” said Liu Guonan, from the China Academy of Railway Sciences.
He said the landslide is the worst he’s seen in 30 years.
“When we excavate with large machinery, we have to consider the risks both to the people who are buried and the rescue workers,” said Yang Shengjun, head of the Shenzhen housing and development bureau.
He Weiming, a migrant worker at a temporary shelter, said he had lost contact with 16 of his friends and family, including his parents, wife and two children.
“When my brother and I left to go collect garbage, our home was fine, but when we came back ... it had been buried in mud,” he told a news website, weeping and looking at photos of his children on his phone.
Cellphone video footage of the disaster shown on CCTV showed a wall of debris slamming into the buildings and sending up huge plumes of dust.
“Seeing the mud approaching us like waves on the sea, I started running and dared not look back,” said a woman surnamed Wang.
After running for four or five minutes, she said she glanced back, but saw nothing but thick dust.
A villager surnamed Peng, whose father was injured, said his mother and brother were still missing.
The landslide happened next to a quarry-turned dumping site for construction waste. Its exact cause is as yet unknown.
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