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85 Missing as Reinforcements Join Shenzhen Landslide Rescue
 

Nearly 3,000 rescue workers have been mobilized to search for dozens of people still missing after  landslide in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen on December 20.

The number of missing people in the landslide, which hit an industrial park in the Guangming district in Shenzhen, was revised to 85 from 91, the local government said on the evening of December 21.

Including the armed forces, 2,906 rescuers are involved in the search at Hengtaiyu Industrial Park, supported by 406 special vehicles, 123 life detectors and 30 search dogs. Ten senior doctors from Guangzhou and Beijing have been despatched to help. Only seven people have been rescued.

The disaster occurred at around 11:40 a.m. on December 20 after a huge pile of construction waste slid down a hill. Some 900 people have been evacuated, but at least 16 people were hospitalized, including a seven-year-old. All are in a stable condition.

The landslide covered an area of 380,000 square meters in 10 meters of silt, said Liu Qingsheng, deputy mayor of Shenzhen.

The buried or damaged buildings include 14 factories, two offices, one canteen, three dormitories and 13 low-rise buildings.

A section of a major West-to-East natural gas pipeline burst following the landslide, cutting off gas supply to neighboring Hong Kong. PetroChina emptied the 400 meters of ruptured pipe and has pumped it full of nitrogen to prevent any further accidents. The company said it will build a temporary pipeline within seven to 10 days to resume the transfer of gas.

The evacuated people are being looked after at temporary shelters.

"We are providing food and beverages, mattresses and quilts to meet people's basic needs," said Chen Jun, a volunteer at Guangming District Sports Center.

Difficult rescue 

Workers are racing against time, as signs of life were still detectable under the debris on December 20. With five excavators, rescuers were close to reaching the first floor of a buried office on the evening of December 20.

They used cutting machines to dismantle the concrete structure after a large pit was dug.

"The rescue is extremely difficult due to the mud and silt," said Cui Bo, a Guangdong firefighter at the scene.

The State Council, China's cabinet, dispatched a team of senior officials and experts, led by State Councilor Wang Yong, to Shenzhen on December 20 to oversee the rescue work.

"The landslide mass is too loose and aquiferous," said Liu Guonan, a researcher with the China Academy of Railway Sciences, who participated in the rescue. It is the first time he has seen a landslide on such scale in his 30 years of work.

"When we organize excavations with large machinery, we have to consider both the possible harm to the buried people and also secondary collapse, which threatens rescue workers," said Yang Shengjun, head of the Shenzhen Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau.

Survivors' memory 

"Seeing the mud approaching us like sea waves, I started running at once and dared not look back. I felt I would have been engulfed in it if I were just one second late," recalled Wang, who worked in a factory near the site. She said a sudden power cutoff at work at midday was accompanied by shouts of, "Run quickly!"

After running for four to five minutes, Wang said she made a quick glance back, seeing nothing but heavy dust. "One worker was trying to save his motorcycle, only to be buried by the debris."

Zhong Guanguo, 50, was preparing lunch when the landslide struck.

"At first I heard people shouting 'Run! Run!' from outside my house," he said.

"When I ran out, the mud came flying at my face," he recalled. He said he narrowly escaped with his wife, but their belongings have been buried along with their home.

Peng, whose father was injured and hospitalized, said his mother and brother were still missing, and his father witnessed several people being buried by the landslide as he fled.

The landslide occurred at a quarry-turned-dump. The exact cause is yet to be known.

"With the increasing size, the pile of waste was unstable," said Peng Weiping, a geologist in Guangdong Province.

Heavy trucks have been transporting silt and waste for the past two years, causing noise and pollution with many complaints, said a worker in the industrial park who declined to be identified.

According to the city's rule, regular safety checkups should be carried out on the facilities for construction waste by operators and government authorities.

The approval and management of the landslide-hit one is unclear.

Shenzhen authorities have launched a comprehensive safety overhaul of seven other construction waste dumps in the city.

(Xinhua News Agency December 21, 2015)

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