BEIJING, July 7 (Reuters) – At least five people died after a landslide struck a mountainous area in China’s western province of Gansu on Tuesday, with 12 others still buried amid ongoing rescue efforts, state media reported, as China grapples with a series of extreme weather events.
The landslide hit a valley in Tanchang county early on Tuesday morning, leaving 33 people trapped, state-run Xinhua news agency said. By the afternoon rescuers had found 21 people, five of whom died despite emergency treatment.
Most of those affected were residents from nearby villages hired as temporary labourers at a state-run forestry farm that encompasses the valley, state-run China Newsweek said. The cause of the landslide remains unclear.
The mountainous region with steep valleys and crisscrossing rivers is prone to natural disasters including flash floods and landslides, especially during the rainy seasons.
It lies near the eastern fringe of the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau, and geological conditions in the area had been destabilised – and remain unstable – partly due to a devastating earthquake in 2008 in Wenchuan more than 300 km (186 miles) away, according to multiple official documents.
AREA PRONE TO LANDSLIDES
A number of landslides have been recorded in the region in recent years following heavy rain. Mudslides in August 2020 killed at least five people and displaced more than 72,000, while causing 8.2 billion yuan ($1.21 billion) in damage.
In 2010, a huge mudslide in nearby Zhouqu triggered by intense rain killed over 1,500 people, with more than 200 people unaccounted for, according to the official tally.
China’s state planner on Tuesday allocated 30 million yuan ($4.42 million) in relief funds for the region. Chinese President Xi Jinping also called for all-out rescue efforts following a number of disastrous weather events across the country in recent days.
National rescue teams have been dispatched to support local efforts, Xinhua said.
($1 = 6.7944 Chinese yuan renminbi)
(Reporting by Ryan Woo and Xiuhao Chen; Editing by Christian Schmollinger, Tom Hogue and Susan Fenton)
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