China: 1 body recovered from industrial park landslide

BEIJING

Chinese rescue teams recovered one body Tuesday morning from an industrial park where a landslide of mud and construction waste buried dozens of buildings in southern Guangdong Province, according to state media.

Xinhua cited rescue headquarters in Shenzhen city as saying the victim was found at around 6 a.m. Tuesday (GMT 0000), and the number of missing people was revised to 76 -- 51 males and 25 females.

Vice Mayor Liu Qingsheng told a press conference that while 91 people had previously been reported missing, 15 of them had since been contacted.

He said more than 4,000 rescuers were at the site of the landslide, which spread across an area of 380,000 square meters (454,500 square yards) with the pile measuring 10-meters deep in some parts.

At least 16 people have been hospitalized since a steep hill of mud and construction waste gave way Sunday, collapsing 33 buildings, according to Xinhua.

The deputy general manager of a factory for automatic industrial equipment told the China Daily that employees had escaped to safety at the time.

"Earth was piled up on the hill without any reinforcement measures," said Gao Zhen, adding that factories had been busy with production for February’s Spring Festival.

An unnamed worker remembered the moment, telling the Daily, “suddenly, the lights in our factory went out, and we all ran out to see what had happened… We saw the landslide. ... It had engulfed power lines, and there was also red smoke."

Lai Xiaolian, Shenzhen Firefighting Department Command deputy chief, said that although rescue efforts were taking place at six sites, with signs of survivors at one, the process was challenging as it involved "more than a landslide" and teams had to battle against mudflows and destroyed buildings.

The Daily also reported that firefighters and rescuers could be seen resting after overnight efforts at the sealed-off site, where some evacuated residents waited in hopes of retrieving any intact belongings.