Six confirmed dead in south China landslide

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-11-25 06:49

NANNING -- All the six missing people had been confirmed dead as of Monday night and six more were treated in hospital after a landslide in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on Sunday, the rescue headquarters said.

The photo taken on November 23, 2008 shows the site of a landslide in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. All the six missing people had been confirmed dead as of Monday night and six more were treated in hospital, the rescue headquarters said. [Xinhua]

The body of the sixth person was excavated at 11:40 pm Monday after more than 30 hours of arduous search by fire-fighters, said Liang Yaode, an official of Hechi City in northern Guangxi.

The landslide occurred at around 11:37 am in Fengshan County of Hechi, when about 21,000 cubic meters of rock and soil buried 16 buildings, including at least two homes, said county chief Huang Deyi.

At least two tractors, a car and a motorbike were buried in the rubble as the landslide buried more than 300 meters of a pivotal highway in the county, Huang said.

A villager said the site of the landslide was a long deserted quarry. "Rocks occasionally fell down the slope during heavy rain, " said a man surnamed Luo. "But we haven't had any rainfall for days. It's strange how such a massive landslide could have occurred."

The local government launched all-out rescue operation immediately after the accident and had retrieved five bodies by 0:15 am Monday, said Xiong Chaofu, the county's deputy chief.

He said the dead, one of whom was a woman, included residents and passers-by.

The accident also caused six injuries, two of which were critical. However, there was no danger to their life, Liang Yaode said.