74 confirmed missing and 8 injured in Chongqing iron ore landslide
Sunday, 07 Jun 2009
Xinhua reported that authorities confirmed on Saturday afternoon that 74 people were missing and 8 others injured in a landslide in southwest China's Chongqing.
Mr Ai Yang, a government spokesman, at a press conference, said that “Among the missing were 21 residents, 47 workers at the iron ore mine where the landslide occurred, 2 telecom company workers and 4 passers by.”
Mr Ai said heavy machinery including mechanical diggers and shovel loaders has been brought in to aid the rescue, after the communications authorities helped open the roads.
He also confirmed that rescuers are preparing to use dynamite to remove rubble burying the opening of the mine in bid to rescue the 27 trapped workers.
More than 1500 fire fighters and medical members are fighting to rescue the people who are trapped.
The accident happened at about 3 PM on Friday at an iron ore mine in Jiwei Mountain in Tiekuang Township, Wulong County, about 170 kilometers southeast of Chongqing's downtown. The debris covered an area of 600 meters long and 300 meters wide in a valley on Jiwei Mountain.
A geological investigation led by Chongqing land and resources authorities found that about 1.5 million cubic meters of Jiwei Mountain slumped 600 meters. It filled a valley where the Wujiang, a tributary of the Yangtze River, flows.
The investigation team warned that the debris, estimated at more than 3.5 million cubic meters, has blocked the river flow and may form a barrier lake if it rains.
