China RoundUp June 15

• Source: Global Times
• [08:03 June 15 2009]
• Comments

Landslide death toll rises to 10

The death toll from a massive landslide in Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality one week ago has risen to 10 after rescuers recovered another body Saturday, sources at the rescue headquarters said Sunday, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

Among the dead are seven men and three women, an unnamed official with the rescue headquarters said without giving further details.

He said 62 people remained missing as of yesterday.

Two of the eight injured had been discharged from the hospital and the others remain in a stable condition, he said.

Beijing shopping mall fire

Several shops were destroyed in a fire early yesterday in a shopping mall in downtown Beijing with no casualties reported, sources from the local government said.

The fire broke out at around 1:45 am in a food shop on the first floor of Xidan mall, according to the Beijing Municipal Government.

More than 40 fire engines and 260 firefighters rushed to the scene to battle the fire and evacuated 79 workers. The fire razed an area of 110 square meters and was extinguished an hour later.

The official said the cause of the fire is under investigation.

Beijing’s Great Wall measured

The latest survey by the Beijing Municipal Administration of Cultural Heritage shows that there are 526.65 kilometers of the Great Wall in the Beijing area, the Xinhua News Agency reported yesterday.

The figures were released Saturday, the fourth “Cultural Heritage Day,” which falls on the second Saturday of each June.

Of the nearly 527 km of Great Wall, about 388 km have been renovated or rebuilt, according to the survey.

Data released by the State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping in April showed the total length of the Great Wall is 8,858.88 kilometers.

Heavy rains hit Guangdong

Heavy rains in southern China’s Guangdong Province have lasted a week and a landslide caused by the rain ravaged Meizhou city and left two people dead, one injured and one missing, the Xinhua News Agency reported yesterday.

This round of heavy rain started Saturday and mainly fell in the province’s Qingyuan, Zhaoqing, Jiangmen, Yangjiang and Meizhou.

About 15,140 people in 10 towns and two counties suffered damage to their property from the rain and 28 roads were damaged and interrupted. More than 150 houses collapsed.