Death toll from NW China mudslide rises to 702
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The mountainous terrain has hampered disaster relief operations. Rescuers could only set up 100 tents in two settlement centers on the playgrounds of two middle schools.
"We have adequate tents, but insufficient space to pitch them," said Zhang Hongdong, a worker with the county's Red Cross Society.
Most people affected by the disaster sought shelter with their relatives and friends in nearby regions, Zhang added.
MIRACLE AMID FADING HOPES
A 52-year-old Tibetan was pulled alive from the debris of a toppled apartment building Tuesday, more than 50 hours after the landslide disaster.
The man, by name of Liu Ma Shindan, was rescued at 11:20 a.m. in the ruins of a residential building for telecommunication workers in the county seat.
Doctors said his heart rate and breathing were normal, but he was too weak to speak. He received first-aid at a makeshift clinic in the county seat.
Senior Chinese leaders Tuesday called for greater efforts to save lives and property in the mudslide-flattened county.
Authorities must make scientific arrangements, take more forceful measures and make the most of every second to save those trapped, said a statement issued after a meeting of members of the Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee Political Bureau.
More than 10,000 troops, police and fire fighters were battling through sludge and rubble Tuesday in a round-the-clock operation to find survivors, even as hopes of finding survivors faded two days after mudslide leveled the county seat.
