27 Missing in Zhejiang Landslide Following Typhoon Megi
Twenty-seven people have been confirmed missing after a landslide hit a village near Lishui City in eastern China’s Zhejiang province, according to a local government news briefing held Thursday morning.
The landslide in Su Village occurred around 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday. According to the Zhejiang provincial government, heavy rains caused by Typhoon Megi triggered the disaster.
Observers’ videos show the side of a hill sliding down onto Su Village below. Twenty houses were reportedly buried. Ten people have gone to the hospital for treatment, and 1460 people have been evacuated, with 125 housed in temporary accomodation.
Rescue efforts are underway, and 3 people have been saved, among them a pregnant woman. Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday urged rescue workers to save those still missing, and called for better monitoring and early warning systems. One of the missing people is a local official involved in the rescue operation.
State news agency Xinhua had earlier reported that 26 people were missing, and that 15 had been saved. Xinhua also reported that six people are missing in Baofeng in Wencheng county, approximately 100 kilometers from Su Village.
Typhoon Megi reached the Chinese mainland shortly after noon on Wednesday, after battering Taiwan earlier in the week where it killed four people. Weather forecasts predicted heavy showers would continue in the affected area on Thursday.
Last November a landslide hit another village near Lishui, killing 38 people. On Monday evening, five people died when a landslide destroyed a road near Kunming, capital of Yunnan province in southwest China.
This article has been updated to reflect new information.
(Header image: A rescue team searches along the banks of a river diverted by a landslide in Lishui, Zhejiang province, Sept. 29, 2016. VCG)