First survivors, Bodies, Pulled from China Landslide
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Rescuers found the first survivors of a deadly landslide in Shenzhen early Wednesday, after a mountain of construction waste engulfed part of the southern Chinese city, collapsing buildings and burying vehicles.
Two people were rescued in the early hours of Wednesday morning after being buried for more than 60 hours.
One survivor, including a man from Chongqing in central China, has been identified as Tian Zeming.
It took 3 hours from when Tian was first located until he was pulled out. Firefighters had to squeeze into the narrow space around him and remove the debris trapping him with their hands.
There was grim news too, however. The second person recovered later succumbed to their injuries. Four bodies have been pulled from the red mud and rubble.
At least 16 people remain hospitalized, three in a serious condition, according to Shenzhen's emergency response office, CNN reported.
A massive rescue effort involving 4,000 people has been underway since Sunday's landslide, but the likelihood of finding people still alive is small.
CNN footage showed dozens of excavators working to clear the rubble, dwarfed by the sheer scale of the landslide, which covered 380,000 square meters (94 acres) -- or around 60 football fields.
Densely packed with few air pockets, in some places the mud and debris was piled four stories tall. The landslide toppled buildings and ruptured a gas pipeline, so clearing the site could take weeks.
Rescue efforts are further complicated by the soil, which is masking the smell of potential survivors, making it difficult for search dogs to find trapped people.
There are as many as 73 more people reported missing, according to CNN's calculations based on Chinese media reports.
Authorities said it was hard to calculate the exact number of missing because many of the people living and working there are thought to be migrant workers from China's poorer, inland provinces, who are often unregistered or their relatives so far away to be contacted quickly.
Meanwhile, China's Ministry of Land and Resources raised the geological disaster emergency response to Level One on Tuesday morning, the highest alarm the government can raise of its four levels of emergency responses. It applies to situations where more than 30 people died or the disasters causes a direct economic loss of more than 10 million yuan ($1.5 million).
