15 taken off missing list in China landslide

Rescue headquarters said on Sunday afternoon that 15 people had been taken off the list of missing people after the landslide in southwest China's Sichuan Province on Saturday.

Rescuers work at the accident site after a landslide occurred in Xinmo Village of Maoxian County, Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture of Aba, southwest China's Sichuan Province, June 25, 2017.[Photo: Xinhua]

Xu Zhiwen, deputy chief of the Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture of Aba, said that by 2 p.m. Sunday, 10 have been confirmed dead and 15 people were not in Xinmo village when the accident occurred, leaving 93 still missing.

State Councilor Wang Yong, who is leading work at the site, demanded all-out efforts to find the missing, treat the injured and minimize casualties.

At a rescue headquarters' meeting Saturday night, Wang ordered around-the-clock monitoring of the geological conditions near the site to prevent secondary disasters, a prompt investigation, and appropriate care to relatives of the missing and those suffering losses in the disaster. He also pledged timely and accurate information release.

The landslide engulfed 62 homes in Xinmo village in Maoxian County Saturday morning, blocking a 2-km section of river and burying 1,600 meters of road.

About eight million cubic meters of hillside descended on the village.

A 36-day-old baby boy's crying awoke his parents and led to their escape from the disaster. The baby and his parents were taken to the West China Second University Hospital in Chengdu, about 200 kilometers from the scene.

Qiao Dashuai said he and his wife woke up from their son's cries at about 5:30 a.m.

"Just after we changed his diaper, we heard a big bang outside and the lights went out," said Qiao.

"We felt that something bad was happening and immediately rushed to the door, which was blocked by mud and rocks," he said. They were dug out by rescuers around 6:50 a.m. and taken to hospital. The husband and wife suffered bruises. The baby, who inhaled muddy water, is treated for pneumonia.

Qiao's parents and his three-year-old daughter remain unaccounted for.

Rescuers with life-detection instrument work at the accident site after a landslide occurred in Xinmo Village of Maoxian County, Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture of Aba, southwest China's Sichuan Province, June 25, 2017.[Photo: Xinhua]

On Sunday, the names of the missing people were published on the website of Aba Tibet and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture. The government asked the public to provide any information which may lead to their rescue.

Rescuers used excavators, sniffer dogs and life-detection equipment to dig through debris as the search continued.

Maoxian county is located on the Minjiang River, a major tributary of the Yangtze. The area is prone to earthquakes: A 7.5-magnitude earthquake in 1933 destroyed many villages.

In 1976, two strong earthquakes struck places about 100 km from the current disaster. The town is about 150 km from the epicenter of the 2008 earthquake, which left over 80,000 people dead or missing.