Update | Shenzhen landslide: 76 missing, only one body found so far, authorities say
Identities of 73 missing confirmed as dump site that triggered the deluge continued to operate despite a litany of complaints from residents and official orders to shut down five months ago
Rescuers combing through the wasteland of mud and rubble from a landslide on the outskirts of Shenzhen retrieved the first dead body early today.
The grim discovery – reported by the official Xinhua News Agency, without giving more details – came as the rescue command confirmed there was no potential danger for a secondary disaster after staff from China National Petrolem Corporation cleared the remaining natural gas in the nearby pipelines overnight.
Officials yesterday said 85 people were missing from Sunday’s disaster, revised down from 91 earlier. Seven people were rescued.
But residents questioned the tally and accused the authorities of negligence. “The toll is definitely much higher,” one relative of a missing person said at a temporary shelter.
A woman whose parents and brother were buried at home, said more than 10 people, including seven children, lived next door and none managed to escape.
Nothing would be known of them until their dead bodies were dug out
“Nobody reported these missing cases on their behalf,” the woman said. “Nothing would be known of them until their dead bodies were dug out.”
