MOSCOW, September 2 (RIA Novosti) - Landslides caused by torrential rains in the southwestern Chinese municipality of Chongqing has left eight people dead and dozens missing, state news agency Xinhua reports citing local rescuers.
Overall, 24 people remain unaccounted for, including 11 miners who were buried in the coal mine located in the Yunyang County. Earlier, one miner was rescued and is currently at a local hospital. His condition is reported as stable, according to al-Jazeera.
Hundreds of rescuers, including firefighters and police officers, relocated more than 7,000 residents of the nine affected townships to shelters. Heavy rainfall that started on Sunday left some communities without power and cut communication to over a dozen towns.
On Tuesday, torrential rains are expected in Chongqing and the bordering Sichuan Province, according to China’s National Meteorological Center.
On Sunday, the death toll from a landslide in the neighboring Guizhou Province reached 22 people, AFP reported adding that one person remained missing. Several dozens of people, mainly children and the elderly, were injured and 77 houses were destroyed as half of a 600-meter high hill collapsed and partially razed a village nearby on Wednesday evening.
Chongqing, a home to almost 29 million people, is the most populous municipality in China. Small towns scattered across the municipality are vulnerable to the high risks of river flooding, landslide, and soil erosion, according to a World Bank report titled “China - Chongqing Small Towns Water Environment Management Project: environmental assessment”.
