100 People Get Buried After Massive Landslide In China
Torrential rains caused a massive landslide in southwest China's Sichuan Province Friday evening in which more than 100 people were feared to be buried under the debris, according to sources with the authorities in Maoxian County. The mountainous village of Xinmo was struck by the tragedy when huge boulders from a high part of a mountain in the Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture of Aba came crashing down, burying 40 homes, state media reported.
The landslide hit the village around 6 a.m. local time Saturday morning (6 p.m. EDT Friday) and the entire village was buried by it, the Washington Post reported, referring to a video posted on the website of Sichuan Daily.
The landslide that smashed the village also blocked a two-kilometer section of a river course, China's Xinhua news agency reported.
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State broadcaster China Global Television Network (CGTN) tweeted a video showing the rescue workers working and bulldozers moving earth and boulders as part of the rescue effort. CGTN also tweeted over 500 rescuers were deployed to remove the debris and search for the 100 missing people believed to be trapped under it.
Another Chinese newspaper, the People's Daily, also posted pictures showing the rescue work going on in the village.
Rescuers used ropes to move massive rocks while dozens of others searched the mountain for survivors. Bulldozers and heavy diggers were also seen removing boulders.
"There are several tonnes of rock," local police captain Chen Tiebo told state broadcaster CGTN. Chen added the region had been getting heavy rainfall in the past few days and that triggered the massive landslide.
"It's a seismic area here. There's not a lot of vegetation," Chen said. "Trees can help absorb excess rain and prevent landslides."
Another Twitter user tweeted a photograph showing soldiers in orange jackets clambering across a field of rocks.
Maoxian county is mostly inhabited by members of the small Qiang ethnic group which is a matrilineal society. They are known for building watchtowers and rope bridges in their mountainous lands. Apart from that, the ethnic group is also famous for its dancing and colorful costumes. Maoxian is located around 110 miles north of the provincial capital, Chengdu, according to reports.
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Landslides are not an uncommon feature in rural and mountainous parts of China, particularly in times of heavy rain. At least 12 people were killed in January when a landslide crushed a hotel in central Hubei province, reports said.
In October last year, landslides smashed eastern China after torrential rains caused by Typhoon Megi. It had caused widespread damage and at least eight people were killed.
More than 70 people were killed by a landslide in the southern commercial hub of Shenzhen in December 2015, caused by the improper storage of construction waste. Professor Dave Petley, pro-vice chancellor for research and enterprise at the University of East Anglia, said the Shenzhen landslide was the first time he had heard of a slide of construction waste. He blamed the heaps left by the mining company for this kind of catastrophe. It was not just the particular mining company but the entire mining industry Petley blamed for dumping waste in large mounds. He said the government would be scrambling to establish whether it was a one-off incident, or the first of more to come, the Guardian reported.
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