Society

Mudslides cut off pivotal highway in SW China

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-07-03 20:02

YINGXIU, Sichuan - Rain-triggered mudslides have cut off access to a pivotal highway in Southwest China's Sichuan province, although no casualties have been reported, police and witnesses said Sunday.

Workers try to remove stones at the site of a mudslide on the State Highway 213 between Yingxiu and Wenchuan July 3, 2011. [Photo/Xinhua]

State Highway 213, which links Sichuan with Northwest China's Gansu province and Southwest China's Yunnan province, was referred to as a "lifeline" by rescue workers following the devastating 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, which occurred in Sichuan's Wenchuan County.

The highway was a crucial channel for rescuers who brought aid and supplies to the county's town of Yingxiu, where the quake's epicenter was located.

A local traffic officer said that heavy rains triggered at least five mudslides, which buried a section of the highway in Yingxiu.

Heavy downpours have wreaked havoc in southern and southwestern China since Saturday.

In Sichuan's Maoxian county, eight people went missing after a mudslide buried a chemical plant dormitory Sunday morning.

Rescue workers continued to search for survivors on Sunday after a pair of coal mine disasters, including a mine flood in Southwest China's Guizhou province and a mine collapse in South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, left a total of 40 people missing.

Workers try to remove stones at the site of a mudslide on the State Highway 213 between Yingxiu and Wenchuan July 3, 2011. [Photo/Xinhua]