Authorities in Shenzhen said they are hunting for six more people in connection with a man-made landslide which saw an avalanche of dirt and construction waste swamp an industrial zone, burying buildings and killing dozens last month. Previously, 25 suspects were arrested.
Rescuers have found 69 victims since the landslide happened on December 20 in the Guangming New District in Shenzhen, reported state broadcaster CCTV on Wednesday. Search efforts continue as eight people remain unaccounted for.
The landslide buried an area of about 380,000 square metres, crushing 33 buildings and triggering a gas explosion. Investigators said the mud came from a quarry-turned-temporary-landfill where construction waste had been piling up for around two years.
Following the incident, executives at the Shenzhen Yixianglong Investment Development Company, the landfill’s contractor, were arrested. Information on the Shenzhen government website showed the landfill’s license had expired in February 2015.
On December 27, an official in charge of the Guangming district’s city management bureau jumped to his death. It is not clear if his suicide was related to the landslide.
