KUALA LUMPUR – Three are dead and dozens buried after 18 houses collapsed after a pre-dawn landslide in China’s remote Zhenxiong county in Yunnan province.
State broadcaster CCTV reported that hundreds of people are being evacuated as 200 rescuers work to find more survivors.
Footage shared on social media showed that emergency workers had to contend with strong winds and snow as they picked through the rubble.
It was also reported that China President Xi Jinping ordered rescue efforts to focus on minimising casualties.
“It is necessary to properly handle the work of comforting the families of the deceased and resettling affected people,” he was quoted as saying.
Currently, temperatures in Zhenxiong is around minus four degrees Celsius.
Impoverished Yunnan is no stranger to landslides as the mountainous region is nestled right against the Himalayan plateau.
In recent months, China has also witnessed massive landslides in Guangxi, Xi’an and Sichuan. – January 22, 2024