Shenzhen landslide survivor found

According to the official Xinhua news agency, Tian was in a stable condition and doctors were trying to save one of his feet, which had been stuck in the debris. The second person later succumbed to their injuries. The news of the death of the other individual was confirmed by neurosurgeon Dai Limeng in a news conference.

Firefighters squeezed into the narrow space around Tian, clawing through the debris surrounding him by hand, according to Zhang Yabin, a policeman involved in the rescue, Xinhua reported. The man survived in a crawl space created by a broken door panel.

There was grim news too, however. At least four bodies have been recovered. Her husband had been buried alive, the paper said.

The landslide eventually blanketed an area of 380,000 sq m (455,000 sq yards) – the equivalent of about 50 football fields.

The 19-year-old had used a rock to tap on debris to try to attract the attention of those looking for signs of life among the sea of mud. More than 70 people were still missing on Wednesday, with only a handful of bodies found so far.

The number was revised downward from 85 on Monday after several people believed to be missing were contacted.

A building in an industrial park in southern China gave way during the landslide on Sunday. “I had never run that fast before”, he told the agency.

So far, they’re nowhere to be found.

Calls to the company seeking comment went unanswered.

“Big questions are being asked here about how this was allowed to happen”, he said. China’s Cabinet has set up a team to investigate the disaster, state broadcaster CCTV said. More than 30 buildings remain submerged in dirt.

What exactly caused the landslide isn’t clear.

“About one million square meters (247 acres) of soil waste is left every year in Guangming New District and there’s need to find its way out”. Inspection reports said the landfill operator hadn’t sufficiently compressed the soil onsite and cited “severe” erosion on some slopes.

The Ministry of Land and Resources said a mountain of earth and construction waste had been piled up against the local hill during the past two years.

Meanwhile, local media outlets reported that the landslide was completely man made and that it could have been avoided.

Rescuers search for survivors at the site where a giant flow of mud and construction waste engulfed buildings in Shenzhen, Guangdong province on December 23, 2015.

A security guard working in a factory in the area told Xinhua that a 250-yuan ($38) fee was charged per truck. CNN interns Zhang Dan and Jessie Jiang contributed from Beijing.