Rescue Effort Continues For 38 Missing In China Mudslide

Rescue effort continues for 38 missing in China mudslide < br />

2012-07-01 07:47:07 GMT+7 (ICT)

NINGNAN COUNTY, CHINA (BNO NEWS) -- Search and rescue work continued on Sunday morning for dozens of people who remain missing following a rain-triggered mudslide in southwestern China earlier this week, officials said. Three bodies have so far been recovered.

The incident occurred early Thursday morning at around 6:15 a.m. local time when a mudslide hit a construction zone at the Baihetan Hydropower Station in Ningnan county, located in Liangshan Yi autonomous prefecture in the province of Sichuan. The site is on the lower reaches of the Jinsha River, a major headwater stream of the Yangtze River, which is the country's longest waterway.

More than 1,000 people have since joined the rescue effort, searching for 38 people who were either working at the hydropower station or were relatives of employees at a nearby building. Rescue workers earlier recovered three bodies, and officials have expressed little hope of finding survivors.

"We mainly rely on excavators to help with the rescue work as the condition of the site is complex. There is little hope for the missing to survive since mudslides always result in catastrophic tragedy," police officer Li Guiping told the state-run Xinhua news agency. Another official said rescue workers are searching in three counties along the river, as bodies may have been washed away by the floods.

Floods triggered by heavy rainfall have killed at least 50 people across China since June 20.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2012-07-01