Landslide buries 112 people and 62 homes in Xinmo, China
Torrential rains in the Sichuan Province South West of China, has resulted in a landslide that has buried a whole village – Xinmo, in the Maoxian County of China.
Advertisement
Situated in the middle of a mountain valley, the village succumbed to an avalanche of mud as the rains poured on Saturday morning, at about 02:30 hours GMT (10:30am local time).
The province suffered a devastating earthquake that measured 8.0 on the Richter scale on May 12, 2008 at 14:28 local time and left over 80,000 people dead and approximately 4.8 million homeless.
Saturday’s landslide therefore makes it the second time in nine years that the Sichuan province has suffered a major disaster, reports Graphic Online's Edmund Smith-Asante, who is among a group of African journalists on a 10-month exchange programme in China
According to official reports 62 homes were buried by the landslide while 112 people had gone missing and were possibly buried under 20 metres of debris.
Official estimates also put the confirmed dead at six, while three people (belonging to one family) were rescued from the ruins.
Reporting for China Global Television Network (CGTN) however, Zheng Yibeng said 15 dead bodies had been found while US$30,000 had been committed to relief and rescue operations.
At the time of filing this report the government of China had activated the highest level of emergency response and about 3,000 rescuers were on site with detecting devices, emergency equipment and sniffer dogs to aid in rescue operations.
Reports monitored on CGTN stated that rescue operations had slowed down because of the fear of more landslides and due to poor visibility as night fell.
Two other landslides had been experienced after the first one, making rescue efforts more difficult.
Experts also said the geographical conditions made rescue operations a herculean task. However, the government pledged to continue with rescue, emergency and relief efforts and the provincial government had set aside 5 million RMB (about US$700,000) to aid in emergency operations. A command centre has also been set up at the site to coordinate rescue operations.
Good news
Rescuers had been able to safely relocate about 320 people living close to the site of the disaster and people living in four villages around Xinmo.
A former advisor and member of the Committee of Disaster Historical Studies, Chen-I-Wan, explained to CGTN that the landslides may have been caused by a small earthquake as strong vibrations and sound preceded the landslide.
It is believed that places adversely affected by torrential rains experienced over 300 milliliters of rainfall.
African journalists
Selected African journalists on a 10-month exchange programme in China who visited places of interest and the earthquake site in the Sichuan Province just last month expressed their shock and sadness at the landslide and conveyed their condolences to the Provincial government and families affected by the landslide.
Writer’s email: [email protected]
