First survivor pulled out of Shenzhen landslide rubble after 60 hours

He said the teenager was in stable condition and had undergone surgery at the Guangming New District Central Hospital.

Tian was one of 76 people reported missing following the incident, which occurred just before midday on Sunday after a huge pile of construction waste on a hill collapsed, destroying much in its path.

“He told the soldiers who rescued him, there is another survivor close by”, state news agency Xinhua said, although it later reported rescuers had found another body rather than a survivor.

Firefighters had to squeeze into a narrow room around Mr Tian and pull debris out by hand, rescuer Zhang Yabin told Xinhua.

The confirmed death toll ticked up to two, with a so-far-unidentified body being recovered, local website Shenzhen News said, showing a photo of rescue workers with heads bowed in a moment of silence.

There are as many as 73 more people reported missing, according to CNN’s calculations based on Chinese media reports.

A giant deluge of mud and construction waste from the overfull dump site buried 33 buildings at the industrial park on Sunday (Monday, NZT).

Meanwhile, China’s Ministry of Land and Resources raised the geological disaster emergency response to Level One on Tuesday morning, the highest alarm the government can raise of its four levels of emergency responses. At least 160 people were killed in massive chemical blasts in the northern port city of Tianjin in August. With growing worries about China’s industrial safety standards, Premier Li Keqiang ordered an investigation within hours into the incident.

Tian Zeming survived for nearly 72 hours on seeds and fruit that had been buried alongside him when a tide of earth and rubble crushed buildings, rescuers were reported as saying. The landslide toppled buildings and ruptured a gas pipeline, so clearing the site could take weeks, it added.

A Xinhua report on the meeting said recent fatal accidents had “sounded the alarm” for officials. Flanked by police, reporters could observe military posts with computers and disease control stations set up for the rescue workers.