Frustration Grows after Deadly China Landslide

TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Frustration grew on Monday among family members of victims of a landslide that buried a mountain village in southwestern China, with some complaining about a lack of information and asking why they had not been moved from an area prone to land slips.

At least 93 people remain missing, along with 10 confirmed dead, after a landslide crashed down on the village of Xinmo, in mountainous Sichuan province, as dawn broke on Saturday.

The government has sent some 3,000 rescuers, along with equipment, to the area and has promised to do all it can to look for survivors while restricting access for safety reasons.

The government of Mao County, where the village is located, posted on Monday drone video footage of the disaster zone, showing a dozen or so mechanical diggers shifting through a vast landscape of rubble, and promising to release updated information in a timely manner.

About 100 family members, unhappy with what they said was limited information, met with government officials at a nearby primary school, saying they wanted to go back home, were concerned about the rebuilding process and whether it would be done by winter, and what would happened to children orphaned.

“These government officials have been lying to us these past three days,” a middle aged man from Xinmo village who has several relatives buried, told Reuters after the meeting, declining to give his name.