Hundreds feared missing after China mudslide

09/09/2008| IslamWeb

Hundreds of people may be missing after a mud slide triggered the collapse of a reservoir of iron ore waste in northern China, burying houses and sweeping away cars in a wall of thick sludge, killing at least 34 people.

Monday's landslide, caused by torrential rain, injured 35 people at the Tashan iron ore mine in Shanxi province. More than 1,100 police, fire fighters and villagers were hunting for survivors in the rubble, the official Xinhua news agency said.

State radio added in a report on its website that "several hundred" were missing, though it did not provide any additional information. Xinhua said the number of people missing had yet to be determined.

"We're busy trying to rescue people but it's very hard work with all the mud and rocks," said Hu Yanzai, Communist Party secretary of Chongshi, which is next to the villages that were wiped out.

"It's hard to estimate how many died. It's all mud and we don't know how many escaped," Hu told Reuters by telephone. "I'd estimate at least 100 (dead). It's a big area ... I don't know what to feel. I feel numb."

Xinhua said the flow of mud and rock destroyed a three-storey office building, a market and houses in the valley.

"Witnesses said the flow roared down the valley and washed away the market and the houses in a few minutes," it added.

Top government officials have rushed to the mine to direct rescue efforts.

"Our preliminary investigation found that this accident was caused by illegal enterprises who discharged waste sand into a mine tailings dam," deputy work safety chief Wang Dexue told state television.

"When the dam reached its capacity, it burst. Heavy rain accelerated the process," he said.

Police have detained the mine owner and eight others, Xinhua said.

Pictures showed overturned vehicles covered in a sticky sludge and parts of houses buried under several meters (feet) of dark mud. Rescuers clambered over the scene looking for survivors, some using excavators, others their hands.

China's mining industry is the world's deadliest, killing nearly 3,800 people last year, as high demand for raw materials on the back of an economic boom pushes managers to cut safety corners to boost output.

Most victims are coal miners who die in floods or explosions underground.

Strong iron ore prices and China's desire to limit its dependence on imports have allowed miners to dig up even very low-grade deposits, often with little regard for safety or environmental measures.

Because iron ore mines are generally open pits, they are less likely than coal mines to collapse and kill miners trapped inside, and so have not attracted as much regulatory attention as coal mines.

PHOTO CAPTION

A vehicle is seen after a rain-triggered mud-rock flow in Xiangfen county, Shanxi province September 8, 2008.

Reuters