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SEARCH FOR SURVIVORS: Chinese rescuers search for survivors in Zhouqu, in northwest China's Gansu province on Sunday 8 August 2010, after a deadly flood-triggered landslide. At least 127 people were killed and nearly 2,000 missing after mudslides swept away homes and destroyed roads in northwestern China as the nation battled its worst flooding in a decade. AFPpix

China Daily
Beijing, Monday 9 August 2010

At least 127 people have been confirmed dead, 76 others injured and 2,000 missing as of 4pm on Sunday 8 August 2010 in landslides triggered by torrential rains in Zhouqu County, Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Northwest China's Gansu Province.

According to local authorities, over 300 houses collapsed in the landslides and about 45,000 people have been evacuated, according to a statement from the provincial civil affairs department.

As of noon, more than 680 residents, had been rescued by local residents. And the water level in the county seat of Chengguan township had declined by 40cm, after floodwaters carrying mud and rocks submerged half the town in the small hours on Sunday, said Mao Shengwu, head of the prefecture.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao arrived at Zhouqu County around 4:30pm.

Rescue Efforts

According to Mao, more than 300 homes in Yueyuan Village in the county had been buried. The number of casualties in village were still not known.

The mud-rock flow has leveled an area about 5km long and 500 meters wide in the county seat, according to a statement posted on the website of the provincial government.

The local rescue headquarters has also organized 1,000 more rescuers to search for the missing people in the area.

Sludge as thick as two meters was spread across some major roads in the county. Many trapped residents were waiting for rescuers atop buildings, said a statement from the general office of the provincial committee of the Communist Party of China.

A primary school and some governmental offices in the county were damaged, said the statement.

The Bailong River, which runs through the county seat, has overflowed and a large body of slow moving water had engulfed Chengguan township.

"Torrential rains began to fall at around 10pm Saturday. Then there were landslides and many people were trapped. Now sludge has become the biggest hinderance to rescue operations. It's too thick to walk or drive through," said Diemujiangteng, head of the county.

"Since excavators can't reach the site, we can only use spades and our hands to rescue the buried." said He Youxin, an officer with the Gannan branch of the Gansu Headquarters of Chinese People's Armed Police Force.

His rescue team has saved 23 people and recovered 15 bodies. But, "It's very hard to locate the people washed away by floods. It's hard to say what their chances of survival are," he said.

More than 600 soldiers sent by the PLA Lanzhou Military Area Command arrived at the county.

"We haven't found any trapped people," said Pu Junli, head of a 60-strong advance force.

More armed policemen, fire fighters and PLA soldiers to help with the rescue are bringing heavy machines from Gansu, neighboring Sichuan Province and Beijing.

Small mud-rock flows still were occurring in the county, according to a report from a 10-strong rescue team sent by the fire department of Sichuan.

Witness accounts, Barrier lake

"I heard the fierce storm around 11:30pm, later I found that a mud-rock flow had hit our residential building. The cars in the yard had all been damaged," said Peng Wei, head of the county's fire department.

"Someone said the fifth floor of my residential building had been submerged. People are busy looking for family members and friends," said Li Tiankui, a resident who lived near the Bailong River.

"Several small landslides have occurred in the valley before, but they didn't arouse much attention," Li said.

Water spewed out the sides of the Bailong River due to debris blocking it and took a different downstream course than usual, engulfing buildings along the riverbank. A total of 19,000 people living in Shawan and Lianghekou townships situated below the lake had been evacuated, Mao said.

The landslides occurred at around midnight in Zhouqu County and a barrier lake had formed on the Bailong River at around 1am.

The barrier lake is 3km long, 100 meters wide and 9 meters deep. It kept some 1.5 million cubic meters of water, according to the provincial flood control department.

Two helicopters carrying demolition experts left for the landslide-hit county at 6:30am Sunday to blow up materials blocking the river's flow, according to the provincial flood relief headquarters.

The downpours had petered out in the county, but the prefecture's meteorological bureau has forecast heavy rains on the upper reach of Bailong River on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Zhouqu County covers 3,010 sq km and has a population of 134,700, about 33% of them are Tibetans. It is located in the southeast part of the prefecture, the seat of which is about 276km away from Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu.

Asia News Network