Seventy-nine people have been confirmed dead in the disastrous landslide last week in Wulong County in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, according to the latest official information.
A landslide occurred in Wulong County and destroyed a 9-story residential building at 8:30 p.m. on May 1, the first day of a seven-day national vacation.
More than one thousand police, soldiers, and medical workers rushed to perform the rescue work in the past week.
The landslide was categorized a geological disaster by a special team of experts. The area around Chongqing City is an has a complicated geological structure, soft stratum and abundant rain, which is prone to geological drastic changes.
(Xinhua 05/08/2001)
