Race to find dozens trapped in southwest China landslide

This picture taken on January 22, 2024 shows Chinese military police and rescue workers searching for missing victims at a landslide site in Liangshui village in Zhaotong, in southwestern China's Yunnan province. (AFP)
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Updated 23 January 2024
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Race to find dozens trapped in southwest China landslide

  • Landslide buried 18 homes and sparked evacuation of over 200 people when it struck in Zhenxiong County
  • Landslides are common in Yunnan, a remote impoverished region of China with steep mountain ranges 

Rescuers raced Tuesday to find dozens of people still trapped after a landslide struck a remote and mountainous part of southwestern China, killing 11.

The pre-dawn landslide buried 18 homes and sparked the evacuation of more than 200 people when it struck in Zhenxiong County, Yunnan province early Monday.

State news agency Xinhua said rescue workers are now in a “race against time” to find those missing after a night of sub-zero temperatures.

“Search and rescue efforts persisted through the night,” firefighter Li Shenglong told Xinhua.

The agency quoted Wu Junyao, director of the natural resources and planning bureau of Zhaotong, as saying the disaster “resulted from a collapse in the steep cliff area atop the slope.”

Two hundred rescue workers have been dispatched to the scene as well as dozens of fire engines and other equipment.

The rescue site is covered in thick snow and rescuers are “using all kinds of tools to search for survivors,” Xinhua reported.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has ordered “all-out” rescue efforts.

Landslides are common in Yunnan, a far-flung and largely impoverished region of China where steep mountain ranges butt against the Himalayan plateau.

Monday’s disaster occurred in a rural area surrounded by towering peaks dusted with snow, state media footage showed.

There was no immediate official explanation for what may have caused the landslide.

Efforts to establish what happened are underway, Xinhua reported.

China has experienced a string of natural disasters in recent months, some following extreme weather events such as sudden, heavy downpours.

Rainstorms last September in the southern region of Guangxi triggered a mountain landslide that killed at least seven people, according to media reports.

In August, heavy rains sparked a similar disaster near the northern city of Xi’an, killing more than 20 people.


ICE agents to help with security at Winter Olympics

Updated 59 min 16 sec ago
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ICE agents to help with security at Winter Olympics

ROME: Agents from the divisive Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will help support US security operations for the Winter Olympic Games in Italy next month, a spokesperson told AFP.
“At the Olympics, ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations is supporting the US Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service and host nation to vet and mitigate risks from transnational criminal organizations,” the agency said in a statement.
“All security operations remain under Italian authority.”
It added: “Obviously, ICE does not conduct immigration enforcement operations in foreign countries.”
The potential presence of ICE agents at the February 6-22 Games has sparked huge debate in Italy, following the outcry over the deaths of two civilians during an immigration crackdown in Minneapolis.
Italian authorities initially denied the presence of ICE and then sought to downplay any role, suggesting they would help only in security for the US delegation.
US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are attending the opening ceremony in Milan on February 6.
On Monday, the president of the northern Lombardy region, which is hosting some of the Olympic events, said their involvement would be limited to monitoring Vance and Rubio.
“It will be only in a defensive role, but I am convinced that nothing will happen,” Attilio Fontana told reporters.
However, his office then issued a statement saying he did not have any information on their presence, but was responding to a hypothetical question.
Thousands of ICE agents have been deployed by President Donald Trump in various US cities to carry out a crackdown on illegal immigration.
Their actions have prompted widespread protests, and the recent killings of US citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti, both 37, on the streets of Minneapolis sparked outrage.