E-Kantipur

BEIJING, AUG 16 -  

Urgent food and medical supplies have been blocked outside a mudslide-ravaged area of northwest China, as rescuers ended the search for about 500 people still missing, authorities said Monday.

Thousands of soldiers sent to Zhouqu, a remote town in Gansu province flattened by landslides a week ago, have stopped digging for bodies buried under sludge to prevent an outbreak of disease, the local government told AFP.

Rescuers instead have stepped up efforts to clear the thick mud from the streets and drain floodwaters amid warnings of more torrential rain over coming days, said Zhouqu county government spokeswoman Yan Jinxin.

So far, the official death toll stands at 1,248, with 496 others still listed as missing. Authorities said a new toll could be announced later Monday.

Zhouqu was virtually split in two when an avalanche of mud and rocks swept through the town following heavy rains late Saturday, levelling an area five kilometres (three miles) long and 300 metres wide, according to state media.

The rain-triggered mudslides struck Zhouqu around midnight when most people would have been sleeping.

China on Sunday observed a national day of mourning for the victims, with President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao paying tribute, flags flying at half-mast nationwide, and public entertainment cancelled.

Thick sludge has prevented vehicles from carrying supplies of bottled water, instant noodles, tents, quilts and medicines into Zhouqu, forcing local residents to walk to aid distribution areas, Yan said.

"It's not raining today but we have issued a notice that torrential rains will happen from the 16th to the 18th," Yan told AFP.

"We have asked people to prepare for the floods and we also have set up some shelters in the county."

Authorities are struggling to keep up with demand for coffins in the devastated mountainous region, whose population is one-third Tibetan, previous state media reports said.

Elsewhere in Gansu, recent floods and landslides have killed 35 people and left 61 missing in the city of Longnan close to Zhouqu, Xinhua said. More than 122,000 residents in Longnan have been evacuated after heavy rain last week.

In neighbouring Sichuan, at least 13 people have died and 59 others are missing after landslides and floods triggered by heavy rains over the past four days.

The mudslides in Gansu are the latest in a string of weather-related disasters across China, which is battling its worst floods in a decade.

More than 2,100 people have been left dead or missing and 12 million evacuated nationwide, not including the toll from the Zhouqu incident.

The civil affairs ministry said Friday it had not calculated a new nationwide flood death toll.

Posted on: 2010-08-16 02:48

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