Society

Mudslides leave one dead, 90 missing in Yunnan

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-08-19 07:02

Residents and soldiers help people trapped by the mudslide in Yunnan on Aug 18. [Photo/Xinhua]

PULADI, Yunnan -- One people is dead, with 90 missing and 40 others injured, after mudslides hit a remote village in southwest China's Yunnan Province early Wednesday, forcing more than 1,000 people to evacuate their homes, local authorities said.

Sixty-three trapped people have been rescued, among whom 40 were injured with 10 severely hurt, after the mudslides struck Litoudi Village of Puladi Township, in the Drung-Nu Autonomous County of Gongshan, at about 1:30 a.m., said a spokesman with the government of Lisu Autonomous Prefecture of Nujiang, which administers Gongshan.

Power supplies and telecommunications in the area, except for the village, had been resumed as of 6 p.m., he said.

Direct economic losses were estimated at 140 million yuan ($20.6 million), he said.

More than 1,100 rescuers were searching for the missing. Most of the missing were employees of the Yujin Iron Mine and local villagers, he said.

The provincial government had sent tents, quilts, overcoats and clothes to the area.

The mudslides span about 300 meters in width, villagers and rescuers said.

At least 10 trucks carrying iron ore and 21 houses were buried, said Zhong Zhifang, a spokesperson for local border troops involved in the search and rescue operation.

The mudslides also destroyed a bridge and blocked parts of the Nujiang River flowing through the mountains, lifting the water level in the upper reaches by up to 6 meters, said a statement from the Yunan Provincial Emergency Response Office Wednesday.

More rain was expected to hit the county in the next two days, according to local meteorological authorities.

On June 26 in Puladi, a mudslide killed 11 people at the construction site of a hydropower station.

Torrential rains have wreaked havoc across China this summer, incurring the worst flooding and landslides in decades.

A massive mudslide on August 8 in Zhouqu County, in northwestern Gansu Province, left 1,287 people dead and 457 missing.