Toll rises as rain brings even more landslides
By Staff Reporter |
August 14, 2010, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
New landslides killed 29 people and left 27 missing in two cities near the center of the massive landslide in northwest China's Gansu Province that has left more than 1,100 people dead.
Downpours threatened more devastation and made rescue work nearly impossible yesterday.
But officers with the People's Liberation Army told a press conference in Beijing yesterday that the threat from barrier lakes formed by debris blocking the river upstream from the mud-struck villages had been removed.
Tents set up as emergency shelters were flooded, and traumatized victims said the ongoing storms were a frightening reminder of the deluge that brought on last Sunday's disaster, in which three villages in Gansu's Zhouqu County were swallowed in waves of mud and rubble-strewn water. Hundreds of homes were buried, and the death toll was 1,156 as of last night.
Debris forming a major barrier lake on the Bailong River was blown up on Thursday, but muddy water had overflowed from the lake and was still flooding streets. More than 80 buildings in downtown Zhouqu were 3-5 meters under floodwater.
Evacuated
An overnight deluge triggered new mudslides on Thursday in Longnan and Tianshui cities, both close to Zhouqu, killing 29 and leaving 27 others missing, Xinhua new agency said.
At least 12,402 people had been evacuated from Longnan and Tianshui but more than 3,000 people were still in Longnan's Chengxian County.
Huang Zeyuan, chief of Longnan's emergency rescue center, said 25 people had been confirmed killed in the landslides, with 19 missing.
Huang said many landslides occurred along the National Highway 316 after heavy rain, and nine other cross-city highways were shut by landslides. Traffic along the national highway resumed yesterday afternoon after mud and rocks were cleaned up, Huang said.
Longnan's telecommunications, power and other infrastructure facilities also suffered damage in the latest round of heavy rain, Huang told China Central Television.
Huang said 550 PLA soldiers and Armed Police officers arrived yesterday to join rescue work.
In Tianshui, four people were confirmed killed and eight were listed as missing.
Meanwhile, mudslides also hit parts of southwest China's Sichuan Province, killing seven people and leaving another 12 missing.
About 500 others were stranded in rural mountain areas in Sichuan's Mianzhu City, Xinhua said.
Earthquake
The rains started late on Thursday in Mianzhu, close to Sichuan provincial capital Chengdu. The area was hard hit during the massive 2008 earthquake which killed about 80,000 people.
The mudslides were concentrated on the villages of Qingping and Tianchi.
Authorities were still trying to work out exactly how much damage had been caused, Xinhua said, suggesting the death toll may rise.
Qingping is surrounded by mountains, where the soil had been made unstable by the 2008 quake.
Communications with Qingping had been cut off and the landslide had "altered the course" of the river which runs through the village.
Six days after the Zhouqu landslide, 588 people remain missing in the county, with the last reported survivors found on Wednesday.
Crews had been using hand tools to pull out survivors until roads reopened on Wednesday, allowing heavy earth-moving equipment in.
Clean drinking water was a primary concern, with most local sources knocked out or too polluted. Numerous cases of dysentery were reported, but there were no reports of an epidemic outbreak.
At least 45,000 people have been evacuated from their homes, and the Ministry of Civil Affairs reported the delivery of 30,000 tents to the area, with thousands more on the way. Zhouqu has a population of 134,000.
Devastating floods in China have killed more than 2,000 people this year.
Downpours threatened more devastation and made rescue work nearly impossible yesterday.
But officers with the People's Liberation Army told a press conference in Beijing yesterday that the threat from barrier lakes formed by debris blocking the river upstream from the mud-struck villages had been removed.
Tents set up as emergency shelters were flooded, and traumatized victims said the ongoing storms were a frightening reminder of the deluge that brought on last Sunday's disaster, in which three villages in Gansu's Zhouqu County were swallowed in waves of mud and rubble-strewn water. Hundreds of homes were buried, and the death toll was 1,156 as of last night.
Debris forming a major barrier lake on the Bailong River was blown up on Thursday, but muddy water had overflowed from the lake and was still flooding streets. More than 80 buildings in downtown Zhouqu were 3-5 meters under floodwater.
Evacuated
An overnight deluge triggered new mudslides on Thursday in Longnan and Tianshui cities, both close to Zhouqu, killing 29 and leaving 27 others missing, Xinhua new agency said.
At least 12,402 people had been evacuated from Longnan and Tianshui but more than 3,000 people were still in Longnan's Chengxian County.
Huang Zeyuan, chief of Longnan's emergency rescue center, said 25 people had been confirmed killed in the landslides, with 19 missing.
Huang said many landslides occurred along the National Highway 316 after heavy rain, and nine other cross-city highways were shut by landslides. Traffic along the national highway resumed yesterday afternoon after mud and rocks were cleaned up, Huang said.
Longnan's telecommunications, power and other infrastructure facilities also suffered damage in the latest round of heavy rain, Huang told China Central Television.
Huang said 550 PLA soldiers and Armed Police officers arrived yesterday to join rescue work.
In Tianshui, four people were confirmed killed and eight were listed as missing.
Meanwhile, mudslides also hit parts of southwest China's Sichuan Province, killing seven people and leaving another 12 missing.
About 500 others were stranded in rural mountain areas in Sichuan's Mianzhu City, Xinhua said.
Earthquake
The rains started late on Thursday in Mianzhu, close to Sichuan provincial capital Chengdu. The area was hard hit during the massive 2008 earthquake which killed about 80,000 people.
The mudslides were concentrated on the villages of Qingping and Tianchi.
Authorities were still trying to work out exactly how much damage had been caused, Xinhua said, suggesting the death toll may rise.
Qingping is surrounded by mountains, where the soil had been made unstable by the 2008 quake.
Communications with Qingping had been cut off and the landslide had "altered the course" of the river which runs through the village.
Six days after the Zhouqu landslide, 588 people remain missing in the county, with the last reported survivors found on Wednesday.
Crews had been using hand tools to pull out survivors until roads reopened on Wednesday, allowing heavy earth-moving equipment in.
Clean drinking water was a primary concern, with most local sources knocked out or too polluted. Numerous cases of dysentery were reported, but there were no reports of an epidemic outbreak.
At least 45,000 people have been evacuated from their homes, and the Ministry of Civil Affairs reported the delivery of 30,000 tents to the area, with thousands more on the way. Zhouqu has a population of 134,000.
Devastating floods in China have killed more than 2,000 people this year.
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