85 Missing in South China Landslide

Close to 80 excavators and an additional 12-hundred search and rescue personnel have arrived on the scene in Shenzhen, where 85 people are still listed as missing after a massive landslide in the southern Chinese city.

Over 29-hundred people are now on the scene, digging through the silt and rubble which rolled over three industrial parks.

Authorities say they have detected signs of life at several locations at the site, though only the 16 who survived the initial slide have been accounted for.

Shenzhen deputy-Mayor Liu Qingsheng says the extent of the disaster is massive.

"An area of around 380,000 square meters has been covered by this mudslide. The thickness of the mud and debris ranges from between a few meters to tens of meters deep. It has led to burial or varying degrees of damage to 33 buildings across three industrial parks."

According to the official Weibo account of Ministry of Land and Resources, the landslide occurred due to accumulation of huge pile of construction wastes.

When the pile of the dump site overloaded, it triggered the collapse of the man-made mountain.

Geotechnical engineer Liu Guonan says he's shocked by the extent of the disaster.

"It is rare to see such a massive disaster take place in urban areas. We took a look through the records, and we've only been able to find one similar case, which took place in Indonesia in the 1990s. But here in China, this is the first case of its kind."

China's top leadership, including President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang, are monitoring the situation.

The State Council, China's cabinet, has dispatched a team of senior officials and experts to the city to oversee rescue work there.

Around 15-hundred people living in the area have been moved out as a precaution.