This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/21/world/asia/landslide-hits-southern-city-sending-hundreds-fleeing-china-reports.html
The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 2 | Version 3 |
|---|---|
| Landslide Hits Southern City, Sending Hundreds Fleeing, China Reports | Landslide Hits Southern City, Sending Hundreds Fleeing, China Reports |
| (34 minutes later) | |
| HONG KONG — A landslide in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen sent a sea of earth crashing into an industrial district on Sunday morning, sending hundreds of people fleeing for their lives and destroying at least 33 buildings, the local government said. | |
| At least 59 people were unaccounted for as of early Monday, and about 1,500 rescue workers were on the scene searching the rubble, according to a report on the official page of the Guangming New District government on Sina Weibo, China’s Twitter-like social media site. | |
| The cause of the landslide was no mystery. A great pile of construction debris and earth, deposited on the side of a hill, gave way, the Twitter account of the official People’s Daily reported Monday, citing China’s Ministry of Land and Resources. Rescue workers detected signs of life in three locations in the mud field, which spread out over about 15 acres, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. | |
| Images and video on social media showed a flood of dirt engulfing low-rise buildings and upending construction vehicles as if they were toy cars. At least four people had been pulled from the rubble, three of whom had minor injuries, the local government said. Some of the collapsed buildings were residential, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. | Images and video on social media showed a flood of dirt engulfing low-rise buildings and upending construction vehicles as if they were toy cars. At least four people had been pulled from the rubble, three of whom had minor injuries, the local government said. Some of the collapsed buildings were residential, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. |
| In the hours after the accident, China’s government-controlled news media placed great emphasis on the concern felt by senior officials, including President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang. Both men were monitoring the situation and had sent a team from the country’s cabinet to the scene, Xinhua reported. | |
| The expressions of concern by China’s top two officials appeared to reflect a newfound sensitivity on the part of the leadership after a series of deadly accidents highlighted the downside of the nation’s breakneck economic growth. | The expressions of concern by China’s top two officials appeared to reflect a newfound sensitivity on the part of the leadership after a series of deadly accidents highlighted the downside of the nation’s breakneck economic growth. |
| The Weibo page of a local official newspaper, the Shenzhen Tequ Bao, reported that the giant pile of construction debris and earth was illegal and that it had been approved by local officials. Those posts were later deleted. | The Weibo page of a local official newspaper, the Shenzhen Tequ Bao, reported that the giant pile of construction debris and earth was illegal and that it had been approved by local officials. Those posts were later deleted. |
| Just a few miles south of the accident site, in Hong Kong, steep hillsides in populated areas are reinforced by elaborate networks of retaining walls to prevent landslides, which can occur frequently in a region pounded by heavy monsoon rains. | Just a few miles south of the accident site, in Hong Kong, steep hillsides in populated areas are reinforced by elaborate networks of retaining walls to prevent landslides, which can occur frequently in a region pounded by heavy monsoon rains. |
| In China, public criticism over lax government regulations and official corruption has grown recently after several disasters. | In China, public criticism over lax government regulations and official corruption has grown recently after several disasters. |
| In August, a chemical storage depot exploded in the northern port city of Tianjin, killing more than 170 people. In October, a building collapsed in the central province of Henan, killing at least 17 construction workers. A landslide in May in southwestern Guizhou Province caused a nine-story building to collapse, killing 16 people. | In August, a chemical storage depot exploded in the northern port city of Tianjin, killing more than 170 people. In October, a building collapsed in the central province of Henan, killing at least 17 construction workers. A landslide in May in southwestern Guizhou Province caused a nine-story building to collapse, killing 16 people. |
| The 2008 earthquake in Sichuan Province, which left more than 87,000 people dead or missing, including many children crushed in schools, brought national attention to the shoddy construction of many buildings, derisively called “tofu buildings.” | The 2008 earthquake in Sichuan Province, which left more than 87,000 people dead or missing, including many children crushed in schools, brought national attention to the shoddy construction of many buildings, derisively called “tofu buildings.” |
| In the case of Sunday’s landslide, one Weibo user, with the online handle “Tiger from Xinzhou,” criticized the news media’s emphasis on what leaders were doing. “Less talk about the leaders and more reports on the causes. What’s going on there now?” the person wrote. | |