Landslide kills 8 in China's south-western province of Guizhou: Report
PUBLISHED ON AUG 28, 2014 5:47 PM
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Rescuers work together to move a piece of collapsed wall as they search for survivors in Fuquan, in southwest China's
Guizhou province, after a landslide on Aug 28, 2014. Eight people died and another 17 were left missing by a landslide in
China, state media reported on Thursday. -- PHOTO: AFP
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BEIJING (AFP) - Eight people died and another 17 were left missing by a landslide in China, state
media reported Thursday.
The landslide engulfed a village near Fuquan city in the southwestern province of Guizhou,
the Xinhua news agency said.
Torrential rain complicated the rescue work, it said.
Pictures showed emergency personnel levering up slabs of tiled wall.
A total of 77 houses collapsed or were buried in the disaster, Xinhua said, with eight people
confirmed dead and another 17 missing.
Guizhou is one of the poorest provinces in China, and renowned for its hilly topography and
wet weather.
Mining is one of its key industries but soil erosion is among the worst in China, with around
42 per cent of the province affected, according to an official national survey in 2009.
Guizhou neighbours Yunnan, which was hit by a 6.1-magnitude earthquake earlier this month
that killed more than 600 people.
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Pollution, smoking, roads, obesity kill 4.7m Chinese a year
PUBLISHED ON AUG 29, 2014 8:38 AM
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Smoke rises from chimneys and cooling towers of a refinery in Ningbo, Zhejiang province on Aug 19, 2014. -- PHOTO:
REUTERS
PARIS (AFP) - Air pollution, smoking, obesity and accidents, especially on the road, kill at
least 4.7 million Chinese a year and cost the country tens of billions of dollars, researchers
said on Friday.
In an overview published in The Lancet, they said China had in some respects made great
strides in health, boosting the average lifespan from 40 years in 1950 to 76 years in 2011 and
rolling back many infectious diseases.
On the other hand, the risk of premature death and sickness from pollution, smoking, road
crashes and "lifestyle" ailments is worse than before.
The trio of Chinese and US experts said China had the chance of learning from rich countries
which had already been down this path, a by-product of rising prosperity.
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Volcano erupts in Papua New Guinea spewing ash and rock
PUBLISHED ON AUG 29, 2014 10:53 AM
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A volcano erupted on Friday in eastern Papua New Guinea, spewing rocks and ash into the air and forcing the evacuation of
local communities, seismologists and reports said. -- PHOTO: TWITTER
SYDNEY (AFP) - A volcano erupted on Friday in eastern Papua New Guinea, spewing
rocks and ash into the air and forcing the evacuation of local communities, seismologists and
reports said.
Mount Tavurvur, which destroyed the town of Rabaul when it erupted simultaneously with
nearby Mount Vulcan in 1994, rumbled to life early in the morning on the tip of the island of
New Britain.
“The eruption started slow and slowly developed in a Strombolian (low level) eruption with
incandescent projections accompanied by explosion noises and ongoing loud roaring and
rumbling noises,” the Rabaul Volcanological Observatory said.
The Australian government issued a warning against travelling to the area. “Authorities have
evacuated communities close to the volcano. Residents of Rabaul town have been advised to
remain indoors to avoid falling ash,” it said.
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Icelandic volcano alert raised to red after eruption; no ash detected
PUBLISHED ON AUG 29, 2014 1:01 PM
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STOCKHOLM (REUTERS) - A volcanic eruption has occurred near Iceland's Dyngjujokull
glacier, prompting authorities to raise the warning code for aviation to red, the highest level,
but no volcanic ash has been detected, Iceland's authorities said.
There has been heightened seismic activity in the area for about a week.
"The Icelandic Met Office has raised the aviation colorcode over the eruption site to red and
the Icelandic Air Traffic Control has closed down the airspace from the earth up to 18000
feet," Iceland's National Crisis Coordination Centre said.
"No volcanic ash has been detected with the radar system at the moment....Seismic eruption
tremor is low indicating effusive eruption without significant explosive activity."
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