Hundreds of rescue workers are looking for survivors after a landslide hit 33 buildings in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen.
Seven people were pulled from the rubble with minor injuries but 91 people are still missing, according to Shenzhen authorities.About 900 people were evacuated from the industrial park as the landslide struck on Sunday.
The city is one of China’s biggest and is a major industrial centre.
It is situated in the southern province of Guangdong, across the mainland border from Hong Kong.
The landslide has blanketed a vast area of 380,000 sq m (455,000 sq yards) covering it with up to 10m (32ft) of mud, Shenzhen’s emergency management office said on its official microblog.
State news agency Xinhua said that the landslide caused an explosion at a natural gas pipeline. Workers have cleaned up about 400m of damaged pipeline and are now repairing it.
China’s land and resources ministry said in a statement on its website that initial investigations showed the landslide happened when a huge mound of soil and construction waste became unstable.
“Because the mound was very large, and the angle of its slope was overly steep, this led to it losing stability and collapsing,” it said.
People’s Daily said the mound had accumulated at a stone quarry that had been converted into a dumping area with its entrance and exit facing an industrial district.
Residents evacuated from the surrounding area described hearing loud roars when the landslide happened.
Amateur footage of the incident broadcast on state television showed waves of red soil quickly engulfing and crushing buildings.
A video taken by an eyewitness and posted online by Beijing Daily newspaper shows plumes of soil shooting up in the air as the mound of earth collapses. – BBC News
