2015 Shenzhen landslide
{{Short description|Landslide of construction waste in Shenzhen, China}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2015}}
{{Infobox News event
|image=2015 Shenzhen Landslide.jpg
|caption=Site of landslide as of 25 December 2015 from a distance
|date= {{start date|df=yes|2015|12|20}}
|time= 11:40 am CST
|place= Guangming New District, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
|coordinates = {{coord|22|43|05|N|113|55|55|E|region:CN-44_type:event|display=inline,title}}
|casualties1=69 deaths,{{cite news |title=China confirms 58 killed in Shenzhen landslide |url=http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/china-confirms-58-killed/2403920.html |date=6 January 2016 |access-date=6 January 2016 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304085244/http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/china-confirms-58-killed/2403920.html |url-status=dead }} 8 missing and 16 injured{{cite news |script-title=zh:深圳山体滑坡挖出第一具遇难者遗体 现场五六处生命迹象|url=http://news.163.com/15/1222/10/BBEC0FPR00014JB5.html |publisher=163.com news|date=22 December 2015}}{{cite news|script-title=zh:深圳山体滑坡灾害：入院救治伤员增至16人|url=http://www.chinanews.com/gn/2015/12-21/7681038.shtml|work=中国新闻网 |date=21 December 2015}}
|notes={{Location map |China Guangdong|width=250|float=center|caption=|mark=|marksize=7|label=Shenzhen landslide|position=left|lat_deg=22.718|lon_deg=113.932}}
{{center|Location of the Shenzhen landslide in relation to the Pearl River Delta region}}
}}
A landslide of construction waste occurred at Shenzhen, on 20 December 2015. It destroyed and buried industrial buildings and worker living quarters in the nearby industrial park. The death toll was 73, with 4 people reported missing.{{cite journal |last1=Wang |first1=Chisheng |last2=Li |first2=Qingquan |last3=Zhu |first3=Jiasong |last4=Gao |first4=Wei |last5=Shan |first5=Xinjian |last6=Song |first6=Jun |last7=Ding |first7=Xiaoli |title=Formation of the 2015 Shenzhen landslide as observed by SAR shape-from-shading |journal=Scientific Reports |date=3 March 2017 |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=43351 |doi=10.1038/srep43351 |pmid=28256522 |pmc=5335704 |bibcode=2017NatSR...743351W }} It was an industrial accident due to human negligence rather than a natural disaster. The local police arrested some of the people involved in the irregularities of the huge waste dump which had built up in the previous two years.{{cite news|title=Shenzhen officer linked to landslide kills himself |url=http://news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/component/k2/1232206-20151228.htm|work=rthk|date=28 December 2015}}{{Cite web|title=China Authorities Arrest 11 People Over Shenzhen Landslide|work=WSJ|date=1 January 2016|access-date=2 January 2016|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/china-authorities-arrest-11-people-over-shenzhen-landslide-1451624293}}
In April 2017, 45 people including government officials, were charged in local courts for negligence and corruption resulting in prison sentences and large fines.{{Cite news |url=http://www.terradaily.com/reports/20_sentenced_to_prison_for_deadly_2015_China_landslide_999.html |title=20 sentenced to prison for deadly 2015 China landslide |author=Staff Writers |access-date=9 March 2017 |date=6 March 2017 |work=AFP |publisher=Space Media Network }}
Background
It has been reported that waste material generated from construction work elsewhere had been piled up in a former quarry over the past couple of years.{{cite news|title=China landslide: Many missing after buildings collapse in Shenzhen|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-35144579|access-date=21 December 2015|work=BBC|date=20 December 2015}}{{cite news|last1=Buckley|first1=Chris|last2=Ramzy|first2=Austin|title=Shenzhen, Embodying China's Growth, Falls Risk to It|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/22/world/asia/china-landslide-shenzhen.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur&_r=0|work=The New York Times|date=21 December 2015}} The adjacent natural hill did not slide, according to a geological report issued by the Ministry of Land and Resources on 21 December 2015.
Landslide
On 20 December 2015 at 11:40 am a pile of construction waste, stored on a hillside, slid down in an avalanche of mud and debris, destroying 33 buildings and covering an area greater than {{convert|10|ha|spell=in}} in the Hengtaiyu Industrial Park ({{lang|zh-hans|恒泰裕工业园}}), which is, administratively, under Guangming New District of Shenzhen.{{cite news|last1=Zeng|first1=Vivienne|title=Man-made disaster: 91 missing in Shenzhen following construction waste landslide|url=https://www.hongkongfp.com/2015/12/21/man-made-disaster-91-missing-in-shenzhen-following-construction-waste-landslide/|work=Hong Kong Free Press|date=21 December 2015}}
The landslide reportedly ruptured a nearby {{convert|400|m|ft|adj=on}} section of the West–East Gas Pipeline and triggered an explosion which was heard about {{convert|4|km}} away.{{cite news|title=China landslide sparks gas explosion and leaves dozens missing|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/dec/20/china-landslide-sparks-gas-explosion-and-leaves-dozens-missing|agency=The Guardian| date=20 December 2015}}{{cite news|title=China landslide leaves 27 missing, sparks gas explosion: Xinhua|url=https://www.hongkongfp.com/2015/12/20/landslide-at-industrial-park-in-china-leaves-41-missing/|work=Hong Kong Free Press|agency=AFP|date=20 December 2015}} According to The New York Times, PetroChina stated that this was untrue, although Reuters subsequently reported that PetroChina announced its plan to lay a temporary gas pipeline to replace the damaged one.{{cite news|title= PetroChina to build temporary gas pipe in 10 days after blast| work = Reuters| url = https://www.reuters.com/article/us-petrochina-gas-blast-idUSKBN0U419C20151221 |date=21 December 2015}}
According to the Ministry of Land and Resources, the landslide occurred after a 20-storey-high mountain of dumped earth and construction waste collapsed.{{cite web |url=http://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/1893780/shenzhen-landslide-first-dead-body-found-among-debris |title=Shenzhen landslide: 76 missing, only one body found so far, authorities say |work=South China Morning Post |author1=He Huifeng |author2=Zhuang Pinghui |author3=Mimi Lau |date=22 December 2015}}
Emergency response
Chinese authorities had over 2,906 rescue personnel, including about 800 from the defence forces, excavating dirt and rubble at the Hengtaiyu industrial park.{{Cite web|title = Reinforcements join Shenzhen landslide rescue|url = http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2015-12/21/c_134937921.htm|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151223163032/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2015-12/21/c_134937921.htm|url-status = dead|archive-date = 23 December 2015|website = Xinhua|access-date = 22 December 2015}}
More than 1,500 emergency rescuers were involved in the search for people trapped under the mud; {{As of|2015|12|21|alt=as of 21 December}}, seven people had been rescued, and 76 people were still missing.{{cite news|title=China landslide: Rescuers search for 85 people still missing|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-35148909|access-date=21 December 2015|work=BBC|date=21 December 2015}} Approximately 900 people have been evacuated from the area.
Responses
Communist party General Secretary Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang called for all-out rescue efforts.{{Cite web|title = Shenzhen landslide disaster shows urbanisation must go hand in hand with good governance |url = http://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1893781/shenzhen-landslide-disaster-shows-urbanisation-must-go-hand|website = South China Morning Post| date=22 December 2015 |access-date = 22 December 2015}} Also, Ma Xingrui, the Communist Party Secretary of Shenzhen, rushed back from Beijing to Shenzhen during The Central Economic Work Conference after hearing of this landslide.{{Cite web|title = China's former top scientist-turned-city party boss rushes back to Shenzhen after landslide |url = http://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/1893731/chinas-former-top-scientist-turned-city-party-boss-rushes-back|website = South China Morning Post| date=21 December 2015 |access-date = 22 December 2015}}
The United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon extended his condolences to the families of the victims of the landslide.{{Cite web|title = Ban extends condolences to people, Government of China in wake of devastating landslide |url = https://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=52890#.VnoPHJMrIwQ|website = United Nations News Centre|access-date = 22 December 2015}}
On 25 December, Ma Xingrui, along with other city officials, issued a public apology to Shenzhen citizens.{{Cite web|title = Shenzhen Landslide Man-made Event, Not Natural Disaster |url = http://english.cri.cn/12394/2015/12/26/4061s910109.htm|archive-url = https://archive.today/20160105182530/http://english.cri.cn/12394/2015/12/26/4061s910109.htm|url-status = dead|archive-date = 5 January 2016|website = China Radio International|access-date = 26 December 2015}}
On 27 December, the official who approved the construction of the waste dump that triggered the landslide, identified as the former director of Shenzhen Guangming New District Urban Management Bureau Xu Yuan'an ({{lang|zh-hans|徐远安}}), jumped off a building in Nanshan District in an apparent suicide.{{cite web|url=http://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/1895516/shenzhen-landslide-aftermath-official-who-rubber-stamped-waste|title=Shenzhen landslide aftermath: Official who rubber-stamped waste dump that triggered disaster takes his own life|date=28 December 2015|work=South China Morning Post}}
Mourning
On 26 December, rescuers and officials mourned those who died in the landslide. The ritual was held seven days after the landslide, in line with the Chinese tradition. The mourners scattered white flowers on the debris.{{Cite web|title = Rescue team mourn victims of Shenzhen landslide|url = http://www.china.org.cn/china/2015-12/26/content_37401152.htm|website = Xinhua|access-date = 26 December 2015}}