Watch: fatal landslide demolishes buildings at chinese industrial park

An area of 20,000 sq. metres was engulfed by soil at the city’s Hengtaiyu industrial park in Shenzhen, yesterday morning. Rescuers dragged seven people from the soil with three suffering

from minor injuries. More than 900 people were evacuated from the site by rescuers. Shenzhen’s fire brigade said that at least one building had collapsed and the landslide had affected a

large area in the northwestern outskirts of the city. The landslide also triggered an explosion at a nearby gas station. Shenzhen city officials confirmed that 21 men and six women were

unaccounted for. Li Yikang, the deputy secretary general of the Shenzhen city government, said that 22 factory buildings were buried, involving 15 companies.  Li said that nearly 1,500

people were involved in rescue efforts to find people buried under the soil. The state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) reported that there was a residential area next to the

industrial zone. One of the buildings buried included two workers’ dormitories. Ren Jiguang, the deputy chief of Shenzhen’s public security bureau, reassured the public that most people had

been moved to safety before the landslide hit. Local media reported that the soil which caused the devastation had been piled up against a 100-metre-high hill after being dug up in the past

two years in construction work.