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Photos and Associated Press videos showed that one of the fallen
rocks appeared larger than a multistory building, with ruins
scattered across the steep terrain. One of the damaged buildings
had its top part crushed and a car was seen half-buried near
another building.
The landslide contained about 18,000 cubic meters of rocks and
debris, and the largest single rock was around 3,000 cubic
meters, Wang Chuanjun, head of Planning and Natural Resources in
Pengshui County, told a news conference on Friday.
CCTV said persistent rain hit Pengshui from Friday night to
Saturday morning and 19.2 centimeters (nearly 8 inches) of
rainfall was recorded at a weather station. The unstable weather
made the rescue operation more challenging, it said. As the rain
eased slightly, rescue teams entered the site to conduct
on-the-ground inspections of the collapsed buildings and
riverbank areas.
While rescue operations are being carried out on one side of the
massive rocks, teams will later need to look beneath them, where
they may risk injury if the boulders become unstable and slide,
CCTV reported. Once the search of the surrounding areas is
complete, officers will drill into the boulders and fill the
holes with explosives to break them apart, it said.
China's National Development and Reform Commission on Saturday
allocated a relief fund of 30 million yuan ($4.4 million) to
support the restoration of infrastructure and public service
facilities following the disaster.
The rain-triggered landslide occurred near a stretch of the
Wujiang River, which cuts through karst mountains peppered with
small towns and terraces.
Pengshui County is located in the southeast part of Chongqing,
bordering the provinces of Hubei and Guizhou.
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Associated Press video producer Wu Jia contributed to this
report.
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