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China Landslide Kills 8, Leaves 34 Missing in Chongqing
🇵🇾 Paraguay /Disasters & Emergencies

China Landslide Kills 8, Leaves 34 Missing in Chongqing

From ABC Color · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Official statement Ongoing story
  • A landslide in Chongqing, China, caused by heavy rainfall, buried over ten residential buildings, resulting in eight deaths and 34 people missing.
  • Approximately 1,100 residents were evacuated following the disaster, which occurred on July 18.
  • Rescue efforts are ongoing, but unstable rock fragments on the cliff pose a risk of further landslides, complicating the operation.

Eight people are confirmed dead and 34 remain missing after a massive landslide buried more than ten residential buildings in China's central Chongqing municipality. The disaster, triggered by intense rainfall, occurred on July 18, trapping residents and prompting the evacuation of 1,100 people.

Eight people have died and another 34 remain missing after a landslide, caused by heavy rains, buried more than ten buildings in the central Chinese municipality of Chongqing this Friday.

— XinhuaOfficial report on the casualties and scope of the landslide disaster.

The geological accident happened at 9:08 a.m. local time when a large volume of rocks and soil cascaded down a mountainside, leading to the collapse of several apartment blocks. A local vendor described seeing multi-story buildings crushed and submerged by enormous rocks and mud.

As of Friday evening, 18 people had been rescued and were receiving medical treatment, with authorities reporting their conditions as stable. However, search and rescue operations continue amidst significant challenges. Local officials warned that unstable rock fragments on the upper and side portions of the collapsed cliff present a risk of further landslides, endangering rescue teams.

Several blocks, most of them five or six stories high, had been crushed and buried by enormous rocks and large masses of mud.

— Pu, local vendorDescribing the destructive impact of the landslide on residential buildings.

China's Ministry of Emergency Management has elevated the national response to Level II, the second-highest severity on a four-tier scale. The ministry has ordered teams to exert maximum effort to locate trapped individuals and ascertain the total number of casualties. Specialized rescue teams, including 110 professional rescuers from the China Anneng Construction Group and over 400 firefighters from Chongqing, have been deployed.

Unstable rock fragments are still scattered on the upper and side parts of the collapsed cliff, so there is still a potential risk of new landslides.

— Local authoritiesWarning about the ongoing risks and challenges for rescue efforts.

President Xi Jinping urged scientific approaches to the search and rescue, emphasizing the need to prevent secondary disasters, provide adequate medical care for the injured, and manage the aftermath effectively. He also called for an investigation into the disaster's causes and a thorough review of geological risks nationwide, urging regions to strengthen monitoring and early warning systems. This incident follows a series of natural disasters in China this month, including deadly floods and landslides in other provinces.

We must conduct scientific search and rescue operations, emphasize the prevention of secondary disasters, provide proper medical treatment to the injured, and effectively manage the aftermath of the accident.

— Xi JinpingPresident Xi Jinping's directive on managing the landslide disaster and its consequences.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by ABC Color in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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