Hundreds 'trapped' in landslide
2008-09-10 08:06
Beijing - Rescuers used heavy equipment to search on Wednesday for survivors buried under a torrent of sludge, mud and mining waste that plowed into buildings in northern China, killing at least 56 people, state media reported.
The landslide in Shanxi province on Monday also injured 35 people - five seriously, Xinhua News Agency reported, citing the local rescue headquarters.
A preliminary investigation showed that a dam collapse at a mine in Xiangfen county caused the landslide, a top safety official said.
Xinhua cited local government official Lian Zhendong as saying rescuers had searched through 70% of the rubble, though the report also said it was not known how many people were trapped under the mud. The People's Daily newspaper, the mouthpiece of the Communist Party, said on its Web site that the missing could number in the hundreds.
Landslide caused by collapse of dam
The Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy said that the death toll could exceed 500 people. It did not attribute the figure to anyone.
The accident underscores two major public safety concerns in China: the failure to enforce protective measures in the country's notoriously deadly mines, and the unsound state of many of its bridges, dams and other aging infrastructure.
The landslide knocked down a mine warehouse, trapping an unknown number of people inside, Xinhua said. A three-storey office building, a market and some houses were also destroyed, the report said.
The preliminary investigation showed that the landslide was caused by the collapse of a dam used as a retaining wall to enclose tailings from an iron mine, said Wang Dexue, deputy head of the State Administration of Work Safety.
"It is an illegal company that was using the abandoned dump to get rid of its production waste," Wang said in an interview broadcast on state television.
"The amount stored far exceeded the capacity of the space. In addition, there was a bit of rain and the collapse took place as a result," he said.
Associated Press researcher Zhao Liang contributed to this report.
- SAPA