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North China mud-rock flow death toll hits 26

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-09-08 19:59

TAIYUAN - At least 26 people were killed and 22 others injured on Monday in a rain-triggered mud-rock flow that caused the collapse of a warehouse holding waste ore dregs in north China's Shanxi Province, said the provincial work safety supervision bureau.

The area destroyed by the mud-rock flow is seen in this picture taken on September 8, 2008. [Xinhua] More photos

The injured, including two seriously hurt, were hospitalized. The specific figure was not immediately available, according to the bureau.

The accident occurred around 8 a.m. in a warehouse of the Tashan Mine in Xiangfen County, Linfen City, which was soaked by torrential rain.

A rescue team of more than 1,100 police, fire fighters and local people were searching through the rubble, said Ding Wenlu, the rescue headquarters chief.

But rough terrain, poor telecommunications and continuous rainfall hampered the rescue effort.

The mud-rock flow also destroyed a three-story office building, a market and some villagers' houses in the valley.

"It was terrible," said Wei Guanghui, a migrant worker from the southwestern Chongqing Municipality, who saw the disaster. "The mud-rock flow looked about seven meters high. It roared down the valley and washed away the market and the houses in a few minutes."

There are several other ore mines Xiangfen. The staff there are mostly migrant workers from Shanxi, Chongqing and the central Hubei Province, which makes it difficult to identify the victims in this accident, rescuers said.