Rescuers race to find survivors in the rain after a landslide in China kills at least 8
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CHONGQING, China (AP) — Rescue crews on Saturday raced to find survivors from a landslide in the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing that killed at least eight people and left 34 missing.
The landslide occurred in Pengshui County on Friday morning on the outskirts of Chongqing municipality, when massive amounts of rocks and soil washed down a slope, burying more than 10 residential buildings, state broadcaster CCTV said. Ten people were rescued and sent to the hospital, while more than 1,100 people have been relocated.
Associated Press photos and videos showed that one of the fallen rocks appeared larger than a multistory building, with ruins scattered across the steep terrain. One of the damaged buildings had its top part crushed and a car was seen half-buried near another building.
The landslide contained about 18,000 cubic meters (635,500 cubic feet) of rocks and debris, and the largest single rock was around 3,000 cubic meters (106,000 cubic feet), Wang Chuanjun, head of Planning and Natural Resources in Pengshui County, told a news conference on Friday.
CCTV said persistent rain hit Pengshui from Friday night to Saturday morning, with 19.2 centimeters (nearly 8 inches) recorded at a weather station. The unstable weather made the rescue operation more challenging, it said. As the rain eased slightly, rescue teams entered the site to conduct on-the-ground inspections of the collapsed buildings and riverbank areas.
While rescue operations are being carried out on one side of the massive rocks, teams will later need to look beneath them, where they may risk injury if the boulders become unstable and slide, CCTV reported. Once the search of the surrounding areas is complete, officers will drill into the boulders and fill the holes with explosives to break them apart, it said.
Beyond the deployment of excavators, a CCTV video report showed a search dog barking to alert a rescuer about signs of life.
Volunteers rode on motorbikes to deliver supplies to rescuers and some stranded residents. Other residents in Pengshui reported that the water supply to their homes was only available at certain intervals.
China’s National Development and Reform Commission on Saturday allocated a relief fund of 30 million yuan ($4.4 million) to support the restoration of infrastructure and public service facilities following the disaster.
The rain-triggered landslide occurred near a stretch of the Wujiang River, which cuts through karst mountains peppered with small towns and terraces.
Pengshui County is located in the southeast part of Chongqing, bordering the provinces of Hubei and Guizhou.
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Leung reported from Hong Kong. Associated Press video producer Wu Jia contributed to this report.