One man pulled alive from landslide in Shenzhen, China

A man was pulled out alive Wednesday more than 60 hours after being buried when a waste heap collapsed on an industrial estate in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen and there could be at least one other survivor, state media said.

Tian Zeming was rescued around dawn on Wednesday.

Tian is hospitalised in a stable condition but may lose one of his feet.

“At 5:40am this morning, rescuers from Longang brigade of the fire department of Shenzhen’s public security bureau found a male victim’s body at Dongsikou working area during search and rescue work, and the victim’s identity is still being confirmed”.

Hundreds of doctors, nurses, and psychologists have been sent to nine temporary settlements near the landslide site and a psychological crisis intervention panel will offer counselling and comfort to the injured and families of the missing, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Mr Zeming survived on seeds and fruit that had been buried alongside him, according to AFP. Firefighters had to squeeze into the room and remove most of the debris by hand to get to Mr Tian, who is from Chongqing city in south-western China. The landslide buried buildings under mud and construction debris.

He was transferred to a hospital and underwent surgery for his injuries.

More than 4,000 rescue workers arrived at the industrial zone with 331 pieces of engineering equipment, 190 excavators and 76 trucks.

Authorities said it was hard to calculate the exact number of missing because numerous people living and working there are thought to be migrant workers from China’s poorer, inland provinces, who are often unregistered or their relatives so far away to be contacted quickly.

Documents on the web site of Guangming New District, where the landslide occurred, show that authorities were aware of problems with the storage and had urged action as early as this July.

Government controlled news media reported the District Government near the landslide site had reported safety concerns months before Sunday’s disaster.

On Wednesday, China’s cabinet established a team, headed by Minister of Land and Resources Jiang Daming, to investigate the landslide. In August, 160 people were killed by a large chemical blast in the northern city of Tianjin.