China: World Vision deploys assessment team as death toll doubles in landslide zone
As rescuers race against time to search for more than 1,000 people buried in a massive landslide in northwest China, World Vision China deployed an assessment team to identify immediate needs of survivors.
So far, 702 people have died, 1,042 are missing, 42 injured while 1,243 people have been saved from the mudslides according to reports.
“Walls of mud buried many homes during the night last weekend giving survivors no chance to bring out belongings as they raced to safety. We would like them to feel that we care and that we are here to help,” said Victor Kan, Humanitarian and Emergency Affairs (HEA) Director of World Vision China.
Family members who survived when the side of the mountain broke off braced themselves as they started identifying the bodies of their loved ones in the makeshift morgue.
Water is the most urgent need
Victor said, “We will jointly conduct our assessment and distribute hundreds of bottles of drinking water, as well as toys. Most water sources were destroyed and they rely now mainly on wells.” Water has been identified as one of the urgent needs of survivors.
As the assessment team travelled to the landslide zones, the challenge will be road access. Some roads have been restricted to vehicles ferrying relief goods and rescue teams. Road travel is expected to take six or seven hours.
“We will continue to work with our local counterparts to ensure smooth coordination as we mount a relief response in Gansu, basing it on the results of the assessment,” said Victor. More than a thousand quilts and toys for hundreds of children are also on their way to the disaster area.
World Vision response
World Vision’s response to this disaster will be included in their ongoing relief operations which aim to provide food and non-food aid to 55,000 survivors of the worst flooding in decades that hit China in June.
As of August 6, World Vision has already distributed relief goods to about 25,000 people. A total of 280 tonnes of rice, 3000 quilts and hundreds of toys were provided to survivors in Jiangxi province. Other relief distribution will be done in Hunan province, another hard-hit area during the flooding. More than 380 tonnes of rice and many toys will be distributed.