China: Five dead in landslide in Yunnan province

Beijing, July 27 (IANS) Five people trapped in a landslide on Sunday in southwest China's Yunnan Province have been confirmed dead, local authorities said.

Following continuous rainfall, the landslide hit a road in Lancang Lahu Autonomous County in the city of Pu'er, burying a car with five people on board, the Pu'er municipal government information office said.

The five people were rescued from the rubble at about 1:40 p.m., but all of them were already dead.

More than 80 people, including firefighters, police officers, and health and emergency response personnel, joined the rescue operation with the help of five excavators.

Local authorities are checking for further risks and handling the aftermath of the disaster.

On 24 June, intense rainfall triggered a significant landslide at the site of the Houzihe Grand Bridge, which is a part of the Xiarong Expressway (a key road that is also known as Xiamen–Chengdu Expressway (route G76).

The landslide toppled the bridge carrying both sides of the highway.

On February 8, the Jinping landslide struck in Junlian County in the Yibin administrative area of Sichuan Province in China.

Triggered by heavy rainfall, the landslide is known to have killed one person, whilst 28 are missing, and two individuals were injured.

There is no practical possibility of further survivors.

China is known for floods, and the 2010 floods began in early May. Three hundred and ninety-two people died, and a further 232 people were reported missing as of June 30, 2010, including 57 people in a landslide in Guizhou.

Fifty-three of the deaths occurred from the flooding and landslides between May 31 and June 3, and 266 deaths occurred between June 13 and June 29.

--IANS

int/dan