Landslide victims demand new investigation

Seventy-two villagers in Zhenxiong county, Yunnan Province, are asking the State Council to re-open an investigation into Fridays' landslide that claimed 46 lives, suggesting a nearby mine may have been responsible.

The investigation by the provincial land and resources department concluded that the landslide was an act of nature. The hillside slope that collapsed was mainly composed of unstable clay and continuous precipitation over the past month saturated the ground and gravity eventually caused the landslide. September's earthquakes that hit neighboring Yiliang county were also blamed, they said.

Luo Yuanshou, the brother of a victim, initiated the joint letter and sent to the State Council on Wednesday. The villagers believe the Gaopo coal mine, which is 500 meters from the landslide scene, could have played a role in the landslide. Villagers wondered why the hillside remained stable following a 50-day snowstorm in 2008.

Luo told the Global Times that the villagers are demanding the State Council order the State Administration of Coal Mine Safety, the Ministry of Land and Resources and the China University of Geosciences to investigate the landslide. The original investigation "hastily concluded the landslide had nothing to do with the mine without even an on-site investigation of the mine. The hill was not that steep and is covered with vegetation," said Luo.

Jiang Xingwu, who headed the original investigation, told the Global Times Wednesday that he stands by the results of his investigation, adding he understands that the villagers may want another opinion.

Jiang said there were no signs of an underground cavity that may have loosened the surface of the slope. "Geological hazards are hard to predict and the sudden eruption could have had a long incubation," said Jiang.

There had never been previous landslides in Gaopo and it is not on the hazard-inspection list of the county, according to the Xinhua News Agency. Local governments refused to comment on the villagers' demand for an additional inspection.