Life in mudslide-hit town goes on
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New life is slowly beginning to take root as grass is found growing in a pit where a team of rescuers dug for buried bodies in the mudslide-flattened Zhouqu County of northwest China's Gansu Province.
Shang Tiansheng, a 69 year-old man born in the county was sitting on a hillock in a shadow cast by a leaning apple tree beside the pit, staring at gravel and flowing water about five meters away.
"I come here every day since the disaster. My home is buried under the gravel and the flowing water" , Shang said, pointing to the direction without moving his eyes. "One mu of my farmland at the foot of the mountain is also destroyed." A mu is one-fifteenth hectare.
Shang and his wife were lucky to survive the deadly mudslide which devastated the county around midnight on Aug. 8 as they ran out of their house after hearing a sound like an earthquake. However, his brother' s family of 16 people who lived no more than 10 meters from him was buried in the sludge and was not found.
The mud-rock flow leveled an area about 5 km long, 300 meters wide and 5 meters deep in the county seat with more than 1.8 million cubic meters of mud and rocks which severely damaged power, telecommunication, and water supply facilities.
As of 2 p.m Thursday, the mudslide had left 1,364 people dead and 401 others missing, the local disaster relief headquarters announced.
Shang and his wife have moved to his second home in the county, which has not been affected by the mudslide. "Several days later I will go back to farming on my other 4 mu farmland."
While survivors are mourning and recollecting happy times in the past, the search for bodies continues. On Wednesday, more than 10 days after the tragedy, people were still gathering on the mud-rock flow either to dig with shovels or to watch the excavators dig, with the hope of finding the bodies of their relatives and know they would be buried properly. Their eyes welled up with tears whenever talking about their losses.
Yang Haiqin was standing on a hillock, staring at an excavator digging for his brother' s family. Nine people were killed, including a pregnant woman due to give birth in 10 days.
"The mudslide has ripped my heart right out of my chest. They were such nice people." Yang said, wiping away tears. "I did not eat anything in two days after the disaster because I was too devastated to feel hungry at all. These days, I calmed down a little bit and can eat something."
"After all, the most important thing is that I am still alive. I have to move on with my life," Yang said.
Like Yang, many people have begun to rebuild their lives in spite of the grief. Businesses can be seen along streets. Volunteers are collecting garbage. Some survivors are watching TV outside tents and somewhile others are walking back and forth, each carrying a basket of bottled water or vegetables. Some of the survivors were provided with steamed rice and dishes, instead of instant noodles, as well as two bottles of water for each meal.
Deng Xiaolong, deputy head of Gansu Administration of Industry and Commerce, said the vegetable supply was adequate with 5 tonnes per day, and food safety was guaranteed.
A total of 30 mobile toilets had been installed, as of Wednesday, according to local disaster relief headquarters. Further, survivors can take showers in a field shower vehicle, available since Wednesday, which would provide bathing for 60 to 80 people per hour.
According to local authorities, about 3,400 pupils from the county' s two elementary schools would be transferred to the nearby No. 1 Middle School, the only high school in the county, which is currently being used as an emergency shelter. A total of 3,040 high school students would move to four schools in Lanzhou, capital of Gansu, to continue their study.
Chinese Vice Premier Hui Liangyu on Wednesday called on authorities to focus on resettlement of survivors in Zhouqu and endeavored to provide them with adequate food, clothes, shelter, medical services and drinking water.
Hui also urged more efforts to ensure public order in the mudslide-hit regions, adding that schools should resume classes in the upcoming fall semester, while banks and postal offices should reopen as soon as possible.
Yao Weijuan, an 18 year-old high school graduate, is waiting for her admission letter from a college in Lanzhou. Her family' s 6-room flat was submerged by the swelling Bailong River, which runs through the county. Her studies would be funded only by her grandfather' s retirement pension.
"I am really longing to study in college," Yao said, "I will try to find a part-time job to pay my tuition and hopefully cover some expenses of my family."
Yao' s dream is to come back to Zhouqu and become an English teacher after finishing the four-year college study in Lanzhou.
"I hope my hometown could be rebuilt soon. We don' t need tall buildings. I hope all the new buildings would be safe." Yao said.
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