Chinese authorities have confirmed that at least 17 people have been killed and a further 44 are missing due to a landslide that was triggered after torrential rain.
photo by : AP
The catastrophe occurred at the Yunnan province western China, near a township in the city of Zhaotong, after a large portion of a mountain came crashing into dozens of homes.
According to local media, up to 38 people were injured with 11 in serious condition while another 44 people were also missing.
A local official who spoke to a local news agency said “The township is located in a river valley surrounded by mountains, people were buried in their homes,”
The landslide was caused by torrential rain in the area said the same official.
The landslide was so huge it effected a further two towns in the area where several people were reported to have been killed, injured or missing but by far the worst hit area was the Yunnan province.
The torrential rain almost caused a reservoir to overflow in the western city of Golmud where waters had risen to at least a metre over the warning line and 10,000 people were evacuated by.
Soldiers and workers were deployed to the area where sandbags, dirt and rocks were used and an emergency waterway was made with bulldozers.
Chinese authorities have reported that 483 people had died in 2010 related to floods and a further 255 missing.
It is normal for certain areas of China to experience rain in the first few days of July and has caused damages of up to $1.3 million.
