Death toll from southwest China landslide rises to 11
The death toll in last week’s landslide in Chongqing city in southwestern China has risen to 11, 10 people were injured and 50 people are still missing.
After heavy rain on the morning of July 17, part of a mountain slope collapsed in Pengshui County, famous for its beautiful nature, about 270 kilometers from Chongqing city center. Rocks and debris fell on residential buildings and businesses along the river, causing them to collapse.
“After multiple rounds of life detection and search, no signs of life remained,” the state-run Xinhua news agency said on Thursday. he said. It was stated that the operation in the field had entered the “in-depth rescue phase”.
Expert teams are still working to recover the remains of missing persons, Xinhua said. While the confirmed death toll due to the collapse of the mountainside was previously eight, 34 people were reported missing.
Rescuers used explosives earlier this week to blow up heavy rocks that were hampering rescue efforts.
“The rescue operation is extremely difficult due to the large amount of collapsed material at the site, the large size and number of falling rocks, the narrow working area and poor slope stability,” Xinhua said. he said.
China is one of the most landslide-prone countries in the world. At least five large, deadly landslides across the country have killed 294 people in the past decade.
The worst such incident killed more than 70 people in December 2015 after a massive pile of construction debris collapsed in an industrial park in the southern tech hub of Shenzhen.
