7 dead, 20 missing in east China landslide. Landslide started while cadres were persuading residents to relocate.

Seven people were confirmed dead in a landslide that hit a village in east China's Zhejiang Province Wednesday, local authorities said Friday.


Rescuers retrieved four bodies at the scene of the landslide on Friday, bringing the death toll to seven, the provincial information office said in a press release.

As of Friday afternoon, 15 people had been rescued and 20 others remained missing.

Rainstorms triggered by Typhoon Megi caused about 350,000 cubic meters of debris to slide down nearby mountains, burying 20 houses in Sucun Village, Suichang County on Wednesday. More than 1,460 residents living nearby have been evacuated.

Hu Gang, executive vice county governor of Suichang, told reporters that more than 4,000 people, with the help of 43 life detectors, four unmanned planes and 180 excavators and rescue vehicles, are racing against the clock to reach the missing ones.

Hua Suping, party chief of the village, said the landslide started while she and other cadres were persuading residents to relocate.
     [Xinhua - globaltimes.cn]
1/10/16
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