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Survivor spurs rescue effort in mudslide-flattened China county
Source: Xinhua |
August 9, 2010, Monday
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Online Edition
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RESCUERS searching for survivors in a mudslide-flattened northwest China county were spurred today when a 74-year-old woman was pulled alive from the debris and rubble.
The woman was rescued from a half-destroyed building this morning, 34 hours after a massive mudslide swept through Zhouqu County, Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Gansu Province.
The woman, whose name was not immediately known, was in a stable condition and able to talk, a spokesman with the emergency rescue headquarters said. "But she was very weak from hunger and thirst."
In the worst-hit village of Yueyuan -- Chinese for "Full Moon Village" -- not a single structure remained intact. Thousands of police and People's Liberation Army (PLA) officers are still searching the debris for signs of life.
"Don't give up. A family of nine are buried here," a police officer shouted as soldiers tried to lever up what was once a roof beam.
The village that sits against the foot of the craggy mountains has been reduced to a mess of yellow slush and debris.
Many survivors sat helplessly on the ground, watching the rescuers' work and praying for miracles. Some desperately dug with their bare hands.
"That used to be my home," said 36-year-old Zhao Xinquan, whose two-story home was torn down and five people were buried.
"I hope I can at least find their bodies, so that they can rest in peace," Zhao said as he wiped away tears.
"We have heard signs of life, cell phones ringing and faint cries for help," said Xu Jiaming, who was commanding 500 soldiers from the Lanzhou Area Command.
Late Sunday, Xu and his troops saved a woman who miraculously survived in a cleft formed by a collapsed building.
The mudslide swept through the county early Sunday, killing at least 127 people and injuring 88. An estimated 1,294 people are missing.
Meanwhile, personnel from PLA's Lanzhou Military Area Command used explosives to blast a blockage in the Bailong River at 8:18am in a desperate operation to prevent further flooding.
Armed police officers were then able to demolish the barrier with excavators, allowing water from a lake in Zhouqu County, Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Gansu Province, to drain at 95 cubic meters per second, he said.
More explosions were carried out at 9:34am and at 10:20am.
Torrential rain late Sunday night sent massive waves and an avalanche of sludge and debris crashing down on the county, ripping houses from their foundations and tearing six-story apartment buildings in half.
About 1.8 million cubic meters of mud and debris flattened three villages that covered around 2.5 million square meters, about a third of the county.
Zhouqu County, about 650 km from the provincial capital Lanzhou, sits in the Bailong River valley and is hemmed in by craggy mountains on both sides.
Of the 88 injured, more than 70 are being treated at Zhouqu People's Hospital. At least 30 critically ill people are in intensive care.
The hospital itself is short of medical workers as more than 10 doctors are missing in the mudslide. "They are all from the worst-hit areas and they might have died too," a doctor said on condition of anonymity.
At a meeting early Monday at the emergency rescue headquarters, Health Minister Chen Zhu said a team of counselors were on their way to Quzhou, as the survivors were in urgent need of counseling.
Geologists with the Ministry of Land and Resources have blamed the county's geological structure for the mudslide, saying its loose, seriously weathered terrain is prone to landslides and other disasters.
The massive earthquake of 2008 that shook the mountains around Zhouqu worsened the situation.
The geologists also pointed to sustained drought and soil erosion in the region since last winter, though the immediate cause of the tragedy was torrential rain that lasted more than 40 minutes and deposited at least 90 mm last night.
The woman was rescued from a half-destroyed building this morning, 34 hours after a massive mudslide swept through Zhouqu County, Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Gansu Province.
The woman, whose name was not immediately known, was in a stable condition and able to talk, a spokesman with the emergency rescue headquarters said. "But she was very weak from hunger and thirst."
In the worst-hit village of Yueyuan -- Chinese for "Full Moon Village" -- not a single structure remained intact. Thousands of police and People's Liberation Army (PLA) officers are still searching the debris for signs of life.
"Don't give up. A family of nine are buried here," a police officer shouted as soldiers tried to lever up what was once a roof beam.
The village that sits against the foot of the craggy mountains has been reduced to a mess of yellow slush and debris.
Many survivors sat helplessly on the ground, watching the rescuers' work and praying for miracles. Some desperately dug with their bare hands.
"That used to be my home," said 36-year-old Zhao Xinquan, whose two-story home was torn down and five people were buried.
"I hope I can at least find their bodies, so that they can rest in peace," Zhao said as he wiped away tears.
"We have heard signs of life, cell phones ringing and faint cries for help," said Xu Jiaming, who was commanding 500 soldiers from the Lanzhou Area Command.
Late Sunday, Xu and his troops saved a woman who miraculously survived in a cleft formed by a collapsed building.
The mudslide swept through the county early Sunday, killing at least 127 people and injuring 88. An estimated 1,294 people are missing.
Meanwhile, personnel from PLA's Lanzhou Military Area Command used explosives to blast a blockage in the Bailong River at 8:18am in a desperate operation to prevent further flooding.
Armed police officers were then able to demolish the barrier with excavators, allowing water from a lake in Zhouqu County, Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Gansu Province, to drain at 95 cubic meters per second, he said.
More explosions were carried out at 9:34am and at 10:20am.
Torrential rain late Sunday night sent massive waves and an avalanche of sludge and debris crashing down on the county, ripping houses from their foundations and tearing six-story apartment buildings in half.
About 1.8 million cubic meters of mud and debris flattened three villages that covered around 2.5 million square meters, about a third of the county.
Zhouqu County, about 650 km from the provincial capital Lanzhou, sits in the Bailong River valley and is hemmed in by craggy mountains on both sides.
Of the 88 injured, more than 70 are being treated at Zhouqu People's Hospital. At least 30 critically ill people are in intensive care.
The hospital itself is short of medical workers as more than 10 doctors are missing in the mudslide. "They are all from the worst-hit areas and they might have died too," a doctor said on condition of anonymity.
At a meeting early Monday at the emergency rescue headquarters, Health Minister Chen Zhu said a team of counselors were on their way to Quzhou, as the survivors were in urgent need of counseling.
Geologists with the Ministry of Land and Resources have blamed the county's geological structure for the mudslide, saying its loose, seriously weathered terrain is prone to landslides and other disasters.
The massive earthquake of 2008 that shook the mountains around Zhouqu worsened the situation.
The geologists also pointed to sustained drought and soil erosion in the region since last winter, though the immediate cause of the tragedy was torrential rain that lasted more than 40 minutes and deposited at least 90 mm last night.
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