Rescue work shifts focus 4 days after catastrophic landslide

The search and rescue operation continued four days after a catastrophic landslide buried a village on late Wednesday afternoon in the city of Lishui in east China’s Zhejiang Province, which took the lives of seven villagers and left 20 others still unaccounted for.

A reporter from Chinese Central Television (CCTV) visited the disaster zone, where rescue teams are working hard to clear away rubble that has dammed up a river, and now poses great danger to the whole rescue operation.

More than 20 houses were buried underneath 400-thousand cubic meters of rock, along with 26 villagers, as well as one government official, who was trying to persuade the villagers to leave.

There are more than 2,200 rescue workers in the region. But the most complex tasks are assigned to the professionals, a team affiliated to China’s Armed Police Force (CAPF).

Over the years, this special task force has dealt with many disaster-relief efforts, including earthquakes, floods, typhoons and landslides.

According to the commander-in-chief, his team of soldiers rushed to the scene as fast as they could after the disaster hit.

“We allocated 350 soldiers and a large amount of rescue equipment. After we arrived at the scene, we coordinated with the local joint command center, getting specific work directions. We also established our very own command center, which will guide our team to be more effective,” said Zhao Xianjin, deputy political commissar of the CAPF hydropower force.

Commanders and rescue teams at the site of the landslide will continue their work in the hope of finding all of the missing villagers.

Although the beautiful mountain village is gone, villagers say that the community will face this challenge together and begin to rebuild their homes and their lives.