The bodies of 14 bus passengers were recovered in northwest
China's Xinjiang
Uygur Autonomous Region on Tuesday. The 14 had been traveling in a
bus that was hit by a mountain torrent on Saturday.
The victims have been buried according to local ethnic
rites.
Torrents of mud and water caused by heavy spring downpours
washed a bus into a river in Luopu County on Saturday. Nineteen of
the 33 passengers had got off the bus and were helping to push the
vehicle that had become stuck in the mud.
The 19 survived, but the 14 passengers who stayed on the bus
were hurled into the river along with the bus.
In another mishap, the bodies of seven of the 24 farmers buried
in the May 9 cave-in were?recovered?on Tuesday in Jixian
County, north China's Shanxi
Province.
The bodies have been identified and rescuers are continuing
their search for the other 17 farmers.
Twelve?men and 12 women were buried after 650,000 cubic
meters of loess collapsed, inundating their houses.?Sixteen
others narrowly escaped the cave-in.
Experts said the cave-in was a typical natural geological
occurrence.
Rescue workers have been searching for survivors for half a
month now, using excavators on three sides of the loess hillock.
However, closer to the site of the collapse, rescuers have had to
ditch the excavators and dig with their bare hands. Further, there
is a risk of another cave-in.
On Monday, continuous rainstorms caused a landslide in Ziyuan
County, southwest China's Guangxi
Zhuang Autonomous Region, which killed two primary school pupils
and injured one.
Five pupils in Shiqutou Village of the Yandong Township were on
their way home after school at about 4:30 PM when the landslide
occurred. Three of them were caught under the torrent of mud and
rock. One died at the scene, and the other two were rushed to the
county hospital. One died along the way and the other was out of
the critical condition as of Tuesday afternoon. They were all aged
about six.
Also in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, flood warnings were
issued on Tuesday after the
Lijiang River in Guilin City water levels reached flood
limits.
Days of continuous torrential rain are responsible for the high
water levels, said sources with the local hydrologic station.
The upper reaches of the Lijiang River recorded daily rainfall
of about 50 mm, and water levels monitored by the Guilin Hydrologic
Station reached 144.5 meters on Tuesday morning.
In southwest China's Sichuan
Province, a forest fire in the Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture
has destroyed about 800 hectares of land.
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The fire broke out on May 17 in an area of virgin forest in Muli
County. It spread quickly due to dry weather and strong winds.
About 2,700 policemen and local residents helped to fight the
blaze.
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The fire was put out on May 23. No casualties have been
reported.
The cause of the fire is being investigated.
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(Xinhua News Agency, China Daily, May 25, 2005)