Tibet landslide: Still no survivors found after 83 miners buried

GlobalPost

Rescuers have yet to find any survivors after Friday's landslide that buried 83 workers at a gold mine in Tibet.

According to BBC News, the first body has been found, but only 36 hours after the landslide.

Chances of finding survivors are slim, but rescue efforts continue, despite being slowed by additional minor landslides and altitude sickness, as the mining site is located at 4600 meters (15,000 feet).

"The miners' survival chances were slim due to the scale of the landslide," a rescue worker said.

More from GlobalPost: Tibet landslide buries 83 miners

Temperatures fell to -3 degrees Celsius (26 degrees Fahrenheit) have gotten in the way of sniffer dogs' sense of smell and their ability to trace the buried miners.

Around 2000 police officers, firefighters and doctors have been dispatched to the site of the landslide, staying at a temporary residence a safe distance away. About 200 bulldozers are being used to shift rock, with more than 300,000 cubic meters of debris already moved by midday on Saturday.

The incident occurred Friday at around 6 a.m. local time, just east of the regional capital, Lhasa. The landslide was three kilometers long and had a volume of about two million cubic meters of mud, rock and other debris.

Victims of the landslide were mostly ethnic Han Chinese, but also included two Tibetans.

Help keep The World going strong!

The article you just read is free because dedicated readers and listeners like you chose to support our nonprofit newsroom. Our team works tirelessly to ensure you hear the latest in international, human-centered reporting every weekday. But our work would not be possible without you. We need your help.

Make a gift today to help us reach our $25,000 goal and keep The World going strong. Every gift will get us one step closer.