Society

Latest mudslides leave dozens missing, injured in SW China

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-08-18 21:20

KUNMING - More than 1,000 people have been evacuated after mudslides hit a remote village in Southwest China's Yunnan province early Wednesday, leaving at least 67 people still missing and 38 injured, local authorities said.

Related readings:  67 missing in SW China mudslides  Mudslides are unlikely in the capital  More people go missing after fresh mudslides  More people go missing after fresh mudslides

Sixty-one trapped people have been rescued, among whom 38 were injured including 10 severely hurt, after the mudslides struck Litoudi Village of Puladi Township, in the Drung-Nu Autonomous County of Gongshan, at about 1:30 am, said a spokesman with the government of Lisu Autonomous Prefecture of Nujiang, which administers Gongshan.

Another ten were still stranded on a cliff and rescuers were trying to reach them, said the spokesman.

Power supplies and telecommunications in the area, except for the village, had been resumed as of 6 p.m., he said.

Direct economic losses were estimated at 110 million yuan ($16 million), he said.

More than 700 rescuers were searching for the missing. Most of the missing were employees of the Yujin Iron Mine and local villagers, he said.

The provincial government had sent tents, quilts, overcoats and clothes to the area.

The mudslides span about 300 meters in width, villagers and rescuers said.

At least 10 trucks carrying iron ore and 21 houses were buried, said Zhong Zhifang, a spokesperson for local border troops involved in the search and rescue operation.

The mudslides also destroyed a bridge and blocked parts of the Nujiang River flowing through the mountains, lifting the water level in the upper reaches by up to 6 meters, said a statement from the Yunan Provincial Emergency Response Office Wednesday.

More rain was expected to hit the county in the next two days, according to local meteorological authorities.

On June 26 in Puladi, a mudslide killed 11 people at the construction site of a hydropower station.

Torrential rains have wreaked havoc across China this summer, incurring the worst flooding and landslides in decades.

A massive mudslide on August 8 in Zhouqu County, in Northwestern Gansu province, left 1,287 people dead and 457 missing.