Rescuers in China race to reach residents trapped by landslide that has killed 8 people

Beijing allocates US$7.4 million for rescue and relief as equipment, including life search gear and slope radar, is sent to disaster zone Hundreds of rescuers in southwestern China are racing against incoming thunderstorms to pull residents from the mud and debris after a landslide on Friday morning destroyed buildings in Chongqing municipality. Local community officials in Hanjia subdistrict of Chongqing’s Pengshui Miao and Tujia autonomous county, witnessed sporadic rockfalls and issued an emergency warning at about 8am on Friday. They rushed to evacuate more than 60 residents, according to mainland news portal Thepaper.cn. The report said a large landslide occurred about an hour later, crashing through several residential buildings and trapping residents who were in the process of leaving. According to a press conference held by the Chongqing government on Friday night, 18 people had been rescued, with 8 deaths recorded. 34 additional people are still missing. It said more than 1,100 people living near the landslide site had been safely evacuated while water, electricity and gas were cut off within a 1km (0.6-mile) radius of the disaster site to aid risk assessment. More than 800 rescuers were at the scene.

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