A mountain of mud buries 33 buildings. At least 91 people missing (video)
Shenzhen (AsiaNews) - Tens of emergency teams are desperately searching for survivors after a mountain of mud and debris hit and destroyed 33 buildings. The incident occurred yesterday at about 11:40.
Amateur videos show the mountain of mud crashing down producing a wall of noise and debris that engulfed surrounding buildings in seconds.
Seven people were rescued, but at least 91 people are missing. Shenzhen is the largest industrial center of China, near the border with Hong Kong. The buildings buried beneath the mud include dormitories for workers, several factories and offices, a canteen and other buildings. The landslide has also broken gas mains of city and emergency crews are trying to fix them.
While firefighters and specialists seek signs of life in the mudslide, 900 people were evacuated from the buildings. The mud has flooded an area equal to 380 thousand square meters.
According to the ministry of land and natural resources, the landslide was caused by a mountain of earth and construction waste as tall as a 20-story building. The "mountain" was too high and too unstable. For at least two years the residents and workers in the area have been expressing their fears, which have gone unheeded, while every day the trucks continued to unload waste.
President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang have appealed to the rescue forces to do everything possible to find the missing persons.
Debate over the incident is filling social networks with accusations lodged against the nation’s blind industrialization in recent years and the lack of security policies. Many remember the Tianjin disaster last August, when a deposit of lethal chemicals, stored near residential buildings, exploded.
(John Ai collaborated)
.png)
