China orders all-out rescue efforts while 79 buried, 27 trapped in fatal landslide

Firemen search for survivors at the site where a landslide occured earlier in the Jiwei Mountain area, in Tiekuang Township, about 170 kilometers southeast of the downtown area, southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality, June 5, 2009. At least 80 people were feared buried in the landslide at an iron ore mining area in Chongqing Municipality on Friday, according to the local government.

    CHONGQING, June 6 — More than 500 rescue workers were shifting landslide rubble Saturday morning in a bid to rescue 79 people buried in the rubble and 27 miners trapped in southwest China’s Chongqing.

    Helicopters were brought in to find the missing, but heavy machinery is not able to reach the site because of unsafe terrain.

    An estimated 79 residents and passers-by as well as 27 miners were buried beneath the landslide, which destroyed 12 houses and buried the mine, Liu Jianchun, a government spokesman with the rescue work, told Xinhua.

    The debris covered an area of 600 meters long and 300 meters wide in a valley on Jiwei Mountain.

    Some houses are now buried 40 meters beneath the slide. There are also possibilities of secondary disasters, as large rocks are resting on unstable mountain slopes, said Jiang Yong, a rescuer with the armed police.

    The weather forecast predicted rain Saturday evening.

A team of fire fighters await orders before rescue near the site of landslide at an iron ore mining area in southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality, southwest China, June 5, 2009.At least 80 people are feared buried in the landslide in Chongqing on Friday, according to the local government. Rescuers had pulled out seven injured people, including four seriously hurt, from the debris as of 8:30 p.m., according to the publicity department of Wulong County, the site of the accident.

    Ran Guangmu, an explosive keeper with the iron ore mine in Wulong County, said he heard a roaring sound at 2:50 p.m. Friday, when he was 2.5 km from the mine. A minute later, he saw the debris filled the valley.

    A geological investigation led by Chongqing land and resources authorities found that about 1.5 million cubic meters of Jiwei Mountain slumped 600 meters. It filled a valley where the Wujiang, a tributary of the Yangtze River, flows.

    The investigation team warned that the debris, estimated at more than 3.5 million cubic meters, has blocked the river flow and may form a barrier lake if it rains.

    Chen Yuanmei, a farmer, wiped tears away as she told how her husband Jin Weisheng, aged 35, was among the trapped miners.

    According to the rescue headquarters, the people buried in the debris have almost no chance of survival, but there is hope for the 27 miners trapped in the mine.

    Seven people were pulled from the debris Friday evening, and three are in critical conditions in hospital Saturday morning, said Qu Qian, director of the Chongqing Municipal Health Bureau.

    Another man was injured after he joined the rescue work. He was also taken to hospital.

    Qu said that 27 ambulances and 91 medical workers are at the site.

    The landslide cut off power and communications in many parts of the town.

    President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao have ordered the local authorities to spare no effort to save buried or trapped people.

    Caution must be taken to avoid loss of life during the rescue work, the two leaders said.

    Vice-premier Zhang Dejiang arrived at the site at 5 a.m. Saturday to oversee rescue efforts.

Fire fighters load the rescue equipment onto a pickup near the site of landslide at an iron ore mining area in southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality, southwest China, June 5, 2009. At least 80 people are feared buried in the landslide in Chongqing on Friday, according to the local government. Rescuers had pulled out seven injured people, including four seriously hurt, from the debris as of 8:30 p.m., according to the publicity department of Wulong County, the site of the accident.

Related posts:

1. Chinese rescuers blast tunnel to reach miners trapped by fatal landslide
2. Rescuers pull out three of 59 people buried in SW China landslide
3. One more bodies recovered from massive China landslide as rescue continues
4. Rescuers still seeking 63 missing from landslide in SW China
5. Super helicopter aids landslide rescue for 63 missing in SW China
6. Two more bodies recovered from massive China landslide
7. Number of missing rises to 80 in SW China landslide
8. Small landslide at SW China site where 63 missing people still sought
9. Search for China landslide victims likely to suspend due to safety concern
10. Secondary disasters frequent in SW China landslide site, search continuing for 64 missing

Leave a comment