A trapped person is found dead at the site of landslide at an industrial park in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, Dec. 23, 2015. There was one survivor pulled out alive while the other found dead at the landslide site by far, but still 75 missing in the landslide. (Xinhua/Liang Xu)
After narrowly escaping being buried alive, Li Qiying said she had never expected the huge pile of soil and waste outside her dormitory window could collapse all of a sudden.
The massive landslide happened at noon on Sunday at an industrial park in the southern Chinese metropolis of Shenzhen. By Wednesday afternoon, only one person was rescued, two were found dead and more than 70 others remained missing, with many of them being migrant workers like Li.
"I was washing vegetables in the factory kitchen as usual when my son broke into the door, grasped my hand and dragged me out of the building like crazy," said 54-year-old Li, who worked in the Hengtaiyu Industrial Park as a factory cook.
"We ran and ran until reaching a farmland. We looked back, the buildings were falling down one after another," she recalled. "We are the lucky ones, but my nephew is still buried down there. He was sleeping in at that moment."
Li has been wandering around the disaster site with other relatives of those who remained missing, anxiously awaiting miracles.
Rescuers, cranes and sniffer dogs are racing with time searching for survivors. A collapsed building protruding from the giant earth mound poses a sharp contrast to the high-rise blocks not far away.
TRAGEDIES IN A ROW
Once a fishing village, Shenzhen pioneered China's reforms and opening up policies over the past three decades to become an economic hub. It is the third metropolis in China to witness severe tragedy this year.
On New Year's eve, a fatal stampede at a crowded square in Shanghai's Bund area killed 36 revelers who were celebrating.
Eight months later, two explosions ripped through a warehouse storing hazardous chemicals at Tianjin Port, claiming 173 lives, including 104 fire fighters.
Both of the incidents were thoroughly investigated. They found lack of public security awareness and the neglect of safety oversight on the part of local officials were blamed.
In Shanghai, eleven officials were punished, with four removed from their posts. In Tianjin, a senior port executive was sacked and a nationwide safety check was launched following the incident.
