China landslide crushes buildings

11 August 2009

At least six apartment blocks have collapsed following landslides in eastern China, trapping an unknown number of people, state media report.
Officials say they have managed to pull six people alive from the rubble in the town of Pengxi in Zhejiang province.
The landslides were triggered by heavy rains caused by Typhoon Morakot, which has swept across parts of East Asia.
Meanwhile in Taiwan, hundreds of people are feared dead after a mudslide caused by the typhoon buried a small village.
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'One second'
Chinese reports say it was 2230 local time (1430 GMT) on Monday when the landslide hit Pengxi, near Wenzhou city.
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A witness told Chinese television it took "one second" for the mud and rocks to engulf the four-storey apartment buildings.
The BBC's Quentin Sommerville says six or seven apartment blocks with an estimated 28 families in each are buried in the rubble.
Two people have been confirmed dead so far and the toll is expected to rise, he adds.
Xinhua reports that the rescue operations are being hampered by the large amounts of debris that have fallen onto them.
Morakot weakened to a tropical storm early on Monday but it has still been lashing south-eastern China with heavy rain.source: bbc.com

Posted by News Point at 2:59 AM  
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