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January 13, 2013

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Yunnan landslide death toll up to 46

THE death toll from a landslide that hit a mountainous region in southwest China's Yunnan Province Friday rose to 46 yesterday morning, as the bodies of the last two missing were found, rescuers said.

The landslide hit the Zhaojiagou area of Gaopo Village, Zhenxiong County at 8:20am Friday. Zhenxiong is some 550 kilometers northeast of provincial capital, Kunming.

Forty-six residents - 27 adults and 19 children - were buried, according to the local civil affairs bureau.

A State Council work group, arrived at 4am yesterday to coordinate rescue and disaster relief efforts.

The rescue and disaster relief operation involved more than 1,000 rescue workers with excavators and life detecting equipment.

By yesterday, 57 households threatened by possible new landslides had been relocated to a nearby primary school, emergency tents, or the residences of their relatives.

Earlier, more than 10 million yuan (US$1.6 million) had been earmarked for rescue and relief efforts. Victims' families could each get an initial subsidy of 10,000 yuan. The identities of the dead will be confirmed by DNA tests, said Liu Jianhua, mayor of Zhaotong City. He said the city had issued an emergency notice to inspect disaster-prone areas.

More than a week of rain and snow triggered the landslide, geological experts said.

Li Lianju, deputy director of the Yunnan Land and Resources Department, said the landslide occurred on a high slope, loosened by 10 days of rain and snow.

Earthquakes in southwest China's Yunnan Province last September were also a factor, said Jiang Xingwu, head of a group of geological disaster prevention experts.






 

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