Villagers in
China visited what used to be their relatives' homes on Monday to mourn loved
ones lost when a landslide swept down a mountain, with little hope of finding
anyone alive after more than 48 hours of fruitless searching.
At least 93
people are missing after the landslide engulfed Xinmo village in mountainous
Sichuan province as dawn broke on Saturday. Ten people have been confirmed
dead.
"Our
house was somewhere around here but everything has been destroyed beyond
recognition," said a middle aged woman, one of a few residents who were
away when disaster struck, after she pulled a green blanket she recognised out
of the mud and rocks.
The
government has sent some 3,000 rescuers, along with heavy digging equipment,
and has promised to do all it can to look for survivors.
Heavy rain
triggered the landslide, authorities have said.
Some
villagers said they've always known landslides are a big danger but authorities
never offered to help them move.
With danger
of more landslides, authorities have been restricting access to the disaster
zone, but hundreds of people were allowed back on Monday.
Mournful
wails and firecracker explosions echoed through Xinmo's steep valley as
bereaved relatives returned, many clutching snacks and wrapped in plastic and
bottles of wine as offerings for the dead.
Some people
burned paper money and lit incense which, along with setting off fireworks, are
traditional acts of mourning.
"Every
single family has been impacted by the landslide, it's horrible," said Sun
Danxian, from a neighbouring village who was walking through the site.
The
government of Mao county, where the village is located, posted on Monday drone
video footage of the area showing about dozen mechanical diggers shifting
through a landscape of grey rocks.
'LYING FOR
THREE DAYS'
Earlier on
Monday, about 100 villagers, unhappy with what they said was limited
information, met government officials at a nearby primary school, insisting
they had to get to Xinmo.
They also
voiced fears about the possibility of rebuilding homes before winter and what
would happened to orphans.
"These
government officials have been lying to us for three days," a middle aged
man from Xinmo, with several missing relatives told Reuters. He declined to
give his name.
"They
told us we could go back yesterday morning but they kept delaying and delaying
giving us all kinds of excuses. They told us a central government official was
going to come to visit us. He showed up and didn't even bother to speak to
us."
Another
relative said the government should have moved them out of an area they knew
was prone to landslides.
"There
have been landslides before but no one has ever suggested we move. The
government knows it's dangerous to live in these kinds of villages and yet they
do nothing," said the elderly man, who also would not provide his name.
The official
China Daily cited Xu Qiang, a disaster expert at the Ministry of Land and
Resources, as saying large-scale relocations in the area were difficult.
"Many
of the villagers have been living here for generations and have seen no major
geological disasters," Xu said. "This is their home and livelihood
and it is very difficult to convince them to leave, specially when you only
have a hypothesis and predictions."
Sichuan
province is also prone to earthquakes, including an 8.0 magnitude tremor in
central Sichuan's Wenchuan county in 2008 that killed nearly 70,000 people.
Mao county
is next to Wenchuan. State media said the mountainside that collapsed onto the
village had been weakened by the 2008 earthquake.
Most
residents of the area are poor farmers of the Qiang ethnic minority and the
area is the target of a poverty alleviation project, according to government
officials.
REUTERS*
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