China landslide: Man rescued alive in Shenzhen after 60 hours

Image copyrightReuters

Image captionThe 19-year-old survivor is receiving medical treatment

A man buried in rubble for more than 60 hours after a landslide hit an area of Shenzhen in China, has been pulled out alive.

The landslide, which struck early on Sunday, engulfed more than 30 buildings in an industrial district.

Rescuers pulled out the first body from the rubble on Tuesday. More than 70 people are still missing.

The landslide happened when a huge man-made mound of earth and construction waste collapsed, after heavy rains.

The 19-year-old survivor was found around 04:00 local time on Wednesday (20:00 GMT Tuesday) in a buried building. He has been named as Tian Zeming, a migrant worker from Chongqing in south-western China.

Authorities said in a press conference on Wednesday that he was found in an extremely weak condition in an excavated hole under the building's roof. Rescuers took about two hours to safely pull him out.

They added that while rescuing Mr Tian, workers found a man's body near him that showed no signs of life.

No official death toll has been given by authorities so far.

Image copyrightXinhua

Image captionThousands of people have been involved in the rescue efforts

Image copyrightReuters

Image captionRescuers had dug a deep hole in the vast mound of earth, to get to the man

About 900 people were evacuated on Sunday as waves of soil and debris rolled across the district and sparked an explosion at a natural gas pipeline.

The landslide eventually blanketed a vast area of 380,000 sq m (455,000 sq yards) - the equivalent of about 50 football fields. Some areas were covered with up to 10m (32ft) of mud.

Thousands of people have been involved in the rescue efforts.

The number of missing has frequently been revised down, as people who were thought to be buried have been contacted or located by authorities.