10 dead as landslide topples residences in Shanxi

By Wang Keju in Beijing and Sun Ruisheng in Taiyuan ( China Daily )

Updated: 2019-03-18

At least 10 people died after a landslide toppled residential buildings in Shanxi province on Friday, local authorities said on Sunday. Ten others were missing.

As of 10 am Sunday, 16 people had been pulled out of the debris and sent to the hospital, but three died after medical treatment failed. Seven bodies were found at the site. Three of the reported 13 injured people had been discharged from hospital after treatment.

The landslide occurred at around 6 pm on Friday in Linfen's Xiangning county. Two residential buildings, a makeshift house and a public bathhouse were toppled.

The Ministry of Emergency Management issued a Level IV emergency response, the lowest in the four-level system. Vice-Minister Fu Jianhua led a team to the site and guided the rescue work.

He Ning, deputy director of the operations training department of the ministry's fire and rescue bureau told CCTV that the rescue operation faced many difficulties.

The massive landslide made it difficult for the rescue team to find people still unaccounted for because of its depth, he said, adding that the roads were narrow and blocked by collapsed buildings, which blocked the progress of heavy rescue equipment.

A crack that appeared on the surface of the mountain where the landslide occurred is widening, and there is considerable rockfall, which seriously jeopardizes the safety of the rescue team, he added.

There were 79 people in the area when the landslide occurred, 46 of whom made their way out of the danger zone by themselves. Thirteen were rescued, the local government said, adding that the search was continuing for those missing, with the help of rescue dogs and life detectors.

More than 700 people, including public security officers, armed police, emergency rescue workers and medical staff have taken part in the rescue effort.

The local government has also organized an experts group to conduct a secondary disaster assessment and set up 24-hour observation stations. People in the surrounding area were evacuated to ensure their safety.

Contact the writers at wangkeju@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 03/18/2019 page4)