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Massive Landslides Leave More Than Two Dozen Missing In China

Rescuers search for trapped people at a residential building in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, on Sunday. Three people were injured and 27 remain missing after a landslide buried 22 residential and industrial buildings.
Mai Siqian
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Xinhua /Landov
Rescuers search for trapped people at a residential building in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, on Sunday. Three people were injured and 27 remain missing after a landslide buried 22 residential and industrial buildings.

A massive landslide in China's Guangdong Province has injured three people and left 27 missing.

The official English-language state agency Xinhua reports:

"A nearby section of the West-to-East natural gas pipeline exploded after the landslide struck the Hengtaiyu industrial park at around 11:40 a.m., causing more than 100,000 square meters of debris as of 7 p.m. The park is located in the Guangming New District in northwestern Shenzhen, Guangdong Province.

"A video clip on microblog Sina Weibo shows powerful mud rocking the site with roaring sounds.

"A resident living about four kilometers away from the site told Xinhua that he heard 'a loud explosion' at around noon. 'It must be a big accident, as I could hear the sound from so far away.'"

China Central Television reports that seven people were rescued and they are still "searching for others as more signs of life were detected."

The images are stunning. The BBC has some video, and we'll leave you with an aerial view:

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

An aerial view shows the site of a landslide at an industrial park in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, China, on Sunday.
/ Reuters /Landov
/
Reuters /Landov
An aerial view shows the site of a landslide at an industrial park in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, China, on Sunday.

Eyder Peralta is NPR's East Africa correspondent based in Nairobi, Kenya.