Rescue team mourn victims of Shenzhen landslide

Xinhua News Agency

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Rescuers and officials on Saturday mourned those who died in a landslide that hit an industrial park in south China's economic hub Shenzhen city on Sunday.

Rescuers downed their tools and listened to excavators and vehicles honking in memory of the victims of the landslide. White flowers were scattered on the debris.

Saturday is the seventh day since the landslide, and the mourning ritual was held in line with the Chinese tradition.

So far only one man has been pulled from the debris. The death toll is confirmed at seven, with 75 still unaccounted for. Rescue work continues although their chance of survival dims with time.

"I hope the dead can rest in peace. I also hope this brings some comfort to the families of the missing," a rescuer said.

Officials also paid tribute to the dead.

Yang Huanning, chief of the State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS), pledged to thoroughly investigate the landslide and severely punish those responsible. He was speaking at a meeting that followed the mourning ritual.

The SAWS is leading an investigation into the landslide, which was confirmed as a work safety incident instead of a natural disaster by a State Council investigation team on Friday.

On Sunday, construction waste collapsed on Hengtaiyu industrial park in the Guangming New District in Shenzhen, covering 380,000 square meters, burying or damaging 33 buildings.

(Photo: XINHUA)