Dozens die in landslide; Xi orders all-out rescue

A woman of a victim family cries in grief after after a landslide hit Gaopo village, Zhenxiong county of Zhaotong city, Southwest China’s Yunnan province, on Jan 11, 2013.  [Photo by Zhang Guangyu]

More than 1,000 rescuers have arrived at the scene to search for the missing people with five excavators and four front loader trucks. More rescue workers are rushing from nearby regions to assist in search and rescue efforts.

All nearby residents facing secondary disaster risks have been relocated to a safe area with temporary shelters, said rescuers.

Xi also asked agencies involved in disaster relief to offer proper psychological treatment to affected residents and maintain public order.

The State Council, or the central government,has sent a work group comprised of leaders from various government departments, including the land and resources, civil affairs, finance, transport and health ministries, to the landslide-hit zone to direct relief work.

The work group, headed by Xu Shaoshi, minister of land and resources, will focus on solving practical problems on site.

The provincial civil affairs department has allocated relief materials such as tents, quilts, food and water to the region, where the temperature has been as low as 2 degrees Celsius recently.

Zhenxiong county is adjacent to Yiliang county, where 19 people, including 18 primary school students, were killed in a landslide in October.

In September, a series of earthquakes - with the strongest registering a magnitude of 5.7 - struck the region, leaving at least 81 people dead in Yiliang.

A cold front will move toward the region in the coming week, bringing rain and snow to Zhenxiong county, according to the Yunnan provincial meteorological bureau.

Provincial and local meteorological authorities have initiated an emergency response mechanism for major natural disasters.