Rain-triggered landslide buries five people in northwest China

Rain-triggered landslide buries five people in northwest China

2011-07-05 16:08:54 GMT+7 (ICT)

XI'AN, CHINA (BNO NEWS) -- At least five people were buried on late Tuesday morning when a landslide caused by continuous rains covered a section of a highway in northwest China, state-run media reported.

The landslide happened at around 10.40 a.m. local time when about 5,000 cubic meters (176,000 cubic feet) of debris came down on a highway in Lueyang County of Shaanxi province, trapping eight people, according to the Xinhua news agency.

Three of those trapped were quickly rescued by emergency workers, while five other people remained missing as of late Tuesday afternoon. Officials said they feared those trapped did not survive.

Flooding and landslides in parts of China have killed more than 150 people in recent weeks, while hundreds of thousands more have been forced to evacuate. Nearly 2,000 people have also been injured as a result of the severe weather.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-07-05