One person was found dead, two were injured and 28 people are still missing after a landslide hit Jinping village in Junlian county, Yibin city, in southwest China's Sichuan province on Saturday at around 11:50 a.m. Beijing time, local authorities said at a press conference on Sunday morning.
The landslide has not yet been stabilised and the number of missing is still being verified.
According to a preliminary estimate, continuous rainfall and geological conditions have transformed the landslide into a debris flow stretching for approximately 1.2 kilometres with a total volume of over 100 000 cubic metres.
More than 200 residents have been evacuated and a makeshift shelter has been set up at the school, local authorities said, adding that an emergency feeding point is now operational.
Authorities told a news conference that thirty emergency generators, 100 cotton tents, 400 disaster beds and 1,100 blankets have been distributed to provide the basic living needs of the displaced.
By 8 p.m. Saturday, local authorities had mobilized a large emergency response force of 949 personnel, including rescue teams, armed police officers, firefighters, public safety officers, transportation workers, medical personnel, communications experts and electricity technicians. They deployed rescue equipment such as excavators, fire trucks and ambulances to carry out on-site operations.
According to the authorities, about 50 million yuan (about US$6.8 million) allocated by the National Development and Reform Commission from the central budget will be used to rebuild infrastructure and public facilities in the affected areas.
Also on Saturday, the Ministry of Finance, together with the Ministry of Emergency Management, allocated 30 million yuan from central disaster relief funds to support Sichuan in quickly organizing rescue work.
The ministry said the funds will be spent on search and rescue, risk assessment, emergency response measures and investigating possible secondary risks of the disaster to minimise casualties.
In the wake of the landslide, the Ministry of Emergency Management launched a response to a Level III geological disaster. Meanwhile, China's National Commission for Disaster Prevention, Reduction and Relief has activated a Level IV national emergency response.
CMG/ gnews - RoZ
PHOTO - Xinhua
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