Saturday 30 March 2013

Tibet mine landslide: Hopes fade for survivors


The chances of finding survivors at the mine near the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, were slim, Chinese media quoted rescuers as saying.
The miners' camp, at an altitude of 4,600m (15,000ft), 70km (45 miles) east of Lhasa, was destroyed by thousands of tonnes of rock.
Rescuers have been hampered by freezing weather, altitude sickness and risks of further landslides.
Xinhua news agency said that as of 10:00 local time (02:00 GMT) no survivors had been found.
"The miners' survival chances were slim due to the scale of the landslide," it quoted one rescue worker as saying.
Some 2,000 police, firefighters and doctors have been sent to the disaster site, setting up temporary accommodation at a safe distance. About 200 bulldozers have been deployed to shift rock.
Xinhua said cracks on nearby mountains suggested there could be further land slips.
"Temperatures as low as -3C have affected the sniffer dogs' sense of smell," it added.
More than 300,000 cu m of debris had been removed by midday on Saturday.

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