Chances of survival of 107 China landslide victims 'slim': officials

As many as 107 people, who were trapped alongwith their tenements in landslides triggered by heavy rains in China's Guizhou province, have "slim" chances of survival, rescue officials said today.

"The chance of survival of the buried villagers from 38 families is quite slim," said Luo Ning, mayor of Anshun City, who led the rescue.

The landslide occurred at 2:30 pm in Dazhai Village of  Guanling County, said a spokesman for the government of Anshun City.

The rescue work had to be suspended due to a rainstorm which had been pounding the township since Sunday night and could trigger additional landslides, officials said.

Initial reports said 150 people feared buried but later officials put the figure around 107. 

More than 600 soldiers and local residents participated in the rescue work, they said, adding rescuers were also cleaning up debris from the landslide which fell onto the roads leading into the village.

The mud-rock flow rushed 1.5 km to the Guangzhao Hydropower Station on the Beipan River, said Wang Mengzhou, secretary of Guanling County Committee of Communist Party of China.

"I called for the others to flee, but it was too late. I saw some people behind me being buried," Cen Chaoyang, a villager told Xinhua in a telephone interview. 

Huang Anquan, a 68-year-old villager from Dazhai whose legs were injured, was carried on his son's back to escape the site.

"When I saw the water in the river near my home raised meters high, I know there was a landslide. We rushed out immediately," Huang recalled.

Luo said 387 villagers living near the site buried in mud
had been evacuated to safe communities because the nearby
rain-soaked mountains are also likely to collapse.

Among the evacuated, 252 villagers sought shelter in the homes of relatives and friends. 

The government has begun providing disaster relief, including drinking water, food and tents, to the remaining evacuees, Luo said.

In addition, more than 1,200 villagers in six communities of Dazhai were waiting to be evacuated, he said. 

Rains have plagued the Gangwu Township for one week with a record daily precipitation of 257 mm Sunday, according to the local meteorological bureau.

About 380 people were killed millions rendered homeless in different parts of China by floods caused by heavy rains during the past few weeks.