China mudslides toll hits 700 amid fears of disease outbreak

Hopes of finding survivors of China’s devastating mudslides faded Wednesday as the death toll passed 700. More than 1,000 people are still buried in the rubble, in a remote area of the country’s north-west Gansu province.

Reuters

Authorities are focused on relief efforts, with hundreds of medical workers sent to the disaster zone amid fears of an outbreak of water-borne disease.

More than 10,000 soldiers and rescuers have combed through the mountains of mud, but 72 hours after China’s worst mudslides in decades, the window of survival was quickly closing.

Chinese premier Wen Jiabao has urged rescuers to keep looking until they find every last survivor.

At least three villages were levelled by an avalanche of mud and rocks triggered by heavy rains on Saturday as China battles widespread flooding.

Tens of thousands of residents of hardest-hit Zhouqu county are without adequate food and drinking water, with many roads leading to the area damaged. Meteorologists predict thunderstorms in Zhouqu over the next few days.

The mudslides are the latest in a string of weather-related disasters to hit China.