Rescue work finished after 32nd body recovered in northwestern China landslide

Rescue work finished after 32nd body recovered in northwestern China landslide

2011-09-23 09:06:52 GMT+7 (ICT)

BEIJING (BNO NEWS) -- Five days after a landslide caused by heavy rainfall buried two small factories in northwest China, the death toll has risen to 32, local media reported Thursday.

Last Saturday, heavy rains brought large amounts of rock and mud down a mountain in a suburb of Xi'an in China's Shaanxi Province called Baqiao, engulfing a brick factory and destroying part of a nearby ceramics factory at around 2 p.m. local time. Reports indicate that the landslide consisted of around 100,000 cubic meters (328,000 cubic feet) of mud and rock.

The casualty toll, which was initially placed at 10, had been continuously rising after the incident. According to the local rescue services headquarters, at least 32 deaths have now been confirmed, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

With the latest numbers, no more missing people are left, and search and rescue operations were called off, which had been briefly disrupted by further landslides on Sunday. The fallen debris more than doubled after the follow-up landslides to 248,000 cubic meters (813,600 cubic feet). Three bodies were recovered on Wednesday afternoon, and the last one was later found.

Zhu Zhisheng, vice mayor of the provincial capital city of Xi'an, previously stated that at least five people were injured during the landslide and had been hospitalized in a stable condition. Xinhua has not given any updates on their conditions on Thursday.

Emergency teams and rescue workers used heavy machinery for several days to try and locate the missing employees. More than 700 police, firefighters, and local residents had joined the rescue operation.

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