China: Landslide buries Gaopo village in Yunnan, 42 feared dead
A Chinese excavator and rescue workers search for buried residents in a disaster-hit area in Gaopo village in southwest China’s Yunnan province on January 11, 2013. A landslide killed at least 36 people (and as many as 42) including seven from a single family when it smashed into the village on January 11, state-run media said.
A landslide in southwest China today has killed as many as 42 villagers and injured others as rescue workers try to combat freezing temperatures.
After several hours of searching, emergency crews pulled 22 bodies from the earth while looking for “dozens” more, the Daily Telegraph said.
Mud and debris buried houses about 8:30 a.m. in the village of Gaopo in the mountainous province of Yunnan, Shanghai Daily reported.
“The landslide, which brought a massive amount of watery mud to the village, buried all of the houses there and created great difficulties for rescue efforts amid low temperatures,” rescue worker Sun Anfa told reporters.
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Reports vary on the number of dead, with some saying 46 people have been buried and only two pulled alive from underneath 10 feet of mud, Shanghai Daily said.
As many as 19 children are believed to have been buried.
Between 700 and 1,000 emergency workers responded to the disaster area, not far from where 18 schoolchildren and an adult died last October in a similar slide, BBC said.
The area has also been hit by several recent earthquakes.
“All the leaders are at the scene giving instructions on the rescue work. Right now the rescue work is the priority, trying to save more lives is the priority,” a local official told the Telegraph.
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