Video shows Lishui landslide rescue efforts

World Today

Video shows Lishui landslide rescue efforts

Footage has captured the progress of firefighters as they continue their rescue work after Friday’s disastrous landslide in Lishui.

The death toll from the natural disaster in east China’s Zhejiang Province has risen to 26 while 11 others remain missing. The search for survivors is still underway.

Rescue efforts for the landslide that occurred in Lishui City, east China’s Zhejiang Province, on Friday night increased due to the thick soil layer and long period of rain, according to local officials on Monday.

“It becomes more and more difficult, because the soil layer is thick and some people were buried deep. We have to dig out the soil to find the missing people,” said Yang Xiuqing, director of Liandu District, Lishui City.

The rain, which started on Monday, is expected to continue throughout the week increasing the difficulty of the rescue.

“The rescue in the previous two days all focused on the surrounding of the sliding mass, for the houses were pushed to the edge by the landslide. It was relatively easy to do the rescue. Next, our rescue efforts will focus on the deeper areas. Worse still, it is expected to rain in the next few days. Combining all the factors, the rescue will be more and more difficult in the future,” said Yang Xiuqing.

In the wake of the landslide, about 200 people from 10 professional civil rescue teams from Lishui and neighboring cities rushed to the site to participate in rescue work.