Landslide in China kills at least 8 people with dozens missing
A landslide has claimed the lives of 8 people and left over 40 missing. Striking a village early Monday, the disaster prompted the evacuation of 500 people. Our correspondent Yang Jinghao reports.
#Yunan #landslide #China
#Yunan #landslide #China
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00:00 I'm now just in a small village where the landslide happened.
00:06 From here we can see clearly the rubbles that have buried more than 40 people from 18 families.
00:17 We can see the rescue work is still underway here and some rescuers are still working against
00:23 the time to search for the trapped villagers.
00:29 So far approximately 1,000 rescuers have been engaged in the rescue efforts and we can see
00:38 some of them are still using various equipment including excavators and live detection instruments
00:46 trying to locate and rescue the trapped people.
00:53 But the rescue efforts are encountering multiple challenges.
00:58 First, the landslide has destabilized the entire mountain and increasing the risk of
01:05 secondary disasters so the rescuers have to be very cautious about the potential dangers.
01:12 And secondly, the region is grappling with low temperatures due to cold waves sweeping
01:19 across the entire province and the recent snowfall is complicating the rescue work.
01:27 And now the temperature here is only minus two degrees Celsius.
01:33 And experts say that since the villagers are buried deep underground so it is very difficult
01:41 to locate precisely them.
01:44 So the rescuers are actually facing big challenges.
01:51 But I can see they're still working around the clock.
01:56 Secondly, as a precautious measure, some local villagers, nearby villagers have been displaced
02:07 to safety.
02:08 More than 200 people have been evacuated to either the families of their relatives or
02:15 a nearby elementary school for shelter and they are receiving emergency supplies such
02:22 as tents, quilts and winter coats.
02:27 Actually this place, this region, this village is part of the Zhengxiong County in Yunnan
02:35 Province and this region is susceptible for natural disasters due to its unique geological
02:43 conditions.
02:45 Back in January 2013, another major landslide also hit this region and causing 46 fatalities.
02:54 And additionally, the landslide has also caused partial damage to power supply and related
03:08 departments are still working actively to restore it.
03:13 Since the situation here is fluid, we will keep you updated as more information becomes
03:23 more available and later tonight there will be a press conference and hopefully there
03:28 will be more information from government coming out.
03:31 Back to the studio.
03:32 Yang, thank you for that.
03:34 Our correspondent Yang Jinghao in Yunnan Province.