Signs of life detected, rescuers race to find survivors

Rescuing work is under way at the landslide site in Shenzhen as strong signals of life have been detected on Monday. [Photo by Chai Hua/chinadaily.com.cn]

SURVIVORS' MEMORY

"Seeing the mud approaching us like sea waves, I started running at once and dared not look back. I felt I would have been engulfed in it if I were just one second late," recalled a woman surnamed Wang.

Wang, who worked in a factory near the site, said the power was suddenly cut off in her factory at midday Sunday and then she heard her colleagues shouting "Run quickly!"

After running for four to five minutes, Wang said she made a quick glance back, seeing nothing but heavy dust. "One worker attempted to take away his motorcycle, only to be buried by the debris."

A villager surnamed Peng, whose father was injured and hospitalized, said her mother and brother remained missing. He said his father witnessed several people being buried by the landslide as he fled.

The landslide occurred to a quarry-turned dumping site of construction waste. Its exact cause is yet to be known.

"With the increasing size, the pile of waste formed an unstable body," said Peng Weiping, a geologist in Guangdong Province.

Heavy trucks have been transporting silt and waste for the past two years, causing noise and pollution with many complaints, said a worker in the industrial park who declined to be identified.

According to the city's rule, regular safety checkups should be carried out on the facilities for construction waste by operators and government authorities.

The approval and management of the landslide-hit one is unclear.

Shenzhen authorities have launched a comprehensive safety overhaul of seven other construction waste dumps in the city.

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