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More Misery Feared for China's Landslide Victims

   VOA News 10 August 2010
   Rescue workers and residents dig through mud to look for bodies in the
   mudslide-hit  town  of  Zhouqu  in  Gannan  prefecture of northwestern
   China's Gansu province on Monday, Aug. 9, 2010. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Photo: AP

   Rescue workers and residents dig through mud to look for bodies in the
   mudslide-hit  town of Zhouqu in northwestern China's Gansu province, 9
   August 2010

   Rescue  teams  in  northwest  China  raced to drain an artificial lake
   before it can bring new tragedy to victims of a devastating landslide.
   Two  days  of controlled explosions have lowered water levels behind a
   dam  created  by  Sunday's  slide, which killed at least 702 people in
   Gansu  province. But forecasters predict more rain over the next three
   days,   raising  fears  the  Bailong  River  will  break  through  the
   obstruction.
   China's  powerful  Politburo Standing Committee met Tuesday in Beijing
   to  discuss relief efforts in the town of Zhouqu, where 7,000 soldiers
   and  civilians  are  searching  for  survivors  around  the clock. The
   official  Xinhua news agency said a river of mud 5 kilometers long and
   500 meters wide runs through the center of the town.
   The  government  said  1,042  people  are missing and 45,000 have been
   evacuated  from  their  homes.  Most  are  ethnic  Tibetan herders and
   farmers.
   A  52-year-old  man  was pulled from the rubble Tuesday, some 50 hours
   after the mudslide hit.
   Minister  of  Land and Resources Xu Shaoshi said the disaster resulted
   from  heavy  rains,  destabilization  caused  by  a 2008 earthquake in
   nearby  Sichuan,  and  sustained drought and soil erosion. Others said
   the surrounding hills have been left bare by years of timber cutting.
   The  Gansu  mudslide  is  the  deadliest  single  incident in weeks of
   flooding that has killed at least 1,500 people across China this year.
   The  damage  runs  into  the tens of billions of dollars, affecting 28
   provinces and regions.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

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