Village to be moved after SW China landslide

Plans are under way to move a village that was devastated on Friday by a landslide in Yunnan province, officials said on Sunday.

The plans went into effect on Saturday afternoon, just after rescue efforts came to a close, said Chen Xiangjin, deputy head of Zhenxiong county.

Wang Yinfa talks with his wife, An Qingduan, who was injured in a deadly landslide in Zhenxiong, Yunnan province, at a hospital in the county on Sunday. The landslide, which occurred on Friday, killed 46 people and injured two. ZHANG GUANGYU / FOR CHINA DAILY

"We will move the 629 people in the village of Gaopo, 2 kilometers from where the landslide happened," he said.

Chen said the new village will take about six months to build and will be paid for with funds from the central government.

He said the villagers will live in prefabricated houses until the new village is completed.

More than 500 villagers have been moved to makeshift tents out of a fear that a subsequent disaster could damage their homes. Others have gone to stay with relatives and friends.

Chen said those displaced by the landslide will receive a daily subsidy of 12.5 yuan ($2) for the next three months.

Portable houses will be built to replace the makeshift tents and provide shelter until the village is moved within half a year, Chen said.

The landslide killed 46 people, 19 of them children, in the mountainous region on Friday. It is believed to have been caused by persistent rain and snow.

Another possible contributor was the earthquakes that struck Yiliang county, a neighboring county, in September, said Jiang Xingwu, head of a group of geological disaster prevention experts under the provincial land and resources bureau.