A generation wiped out: Nineteen children among 46 bodies recovered from landslide which swept away entire village in southern China

Nineteen children were among 46 people killed in a devastating landslide that swept through a mountain village in China.

Mud and rocks smothered 16 homes in the village of Zhaojiagou area of Gaopo Village, in the south of the country, which has a population of just 468 and 73 households. Rescuers dressed in orange jumpsuits faced the grim task of pulling the dead from underneath debris and had to use heavy machinery to sift through mud and soil.

On Saturday, the state-run China Central Television said the bodies of all victims had been recovered after a 700-strong emergency team used joined the rescue effort.

The Zhenxiong government said in a statement the mudslide was caused by soil that had become heavily saturated from continuous rain and snow over the past month.

There were other factors, including the slope's steepness, its poor soil composition and the impact from an earthquake, the government said.



The statement denied any direct relation between the disaster and mining activities in the area and concluded that the mudslide was a natural disaster.

Mudslides occur periodically in the region, which is prone to earthquakes and heavy rains. In a nearby county, 81 people died in an earthquake in September. A month later, a landslide buried a primary school, killing 18 students and one other person.

Saturday 12 January 2013

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