landslide Landslides, also known as landslips, rockslips or rockslides, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, mudflows, shallow or deep-seated slope failures and debris flows. Landslides ...

of construction waste occurred at

Shenzhen Shenzhen is a prefecture-level city in the province of Guangdong, China. A Special economic zones of China, special economic zone, it is located on the east bank of the Pearl River (China), Pearl River estuary on the central coast of Guangdong ...

, 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. It was an industrial accident due to human negligence rather than a

natural disaster A natural disaster is the very harmful impact on a society or community brought by natural phenomenon or Hazard#Natural hazard, hazard. Some examples of natural hazards include avalanches, droughts, earthquakes, floods, heat waves, landslides ...

. The local police arrested some of the people involved in the irregularities of the huge

waste dump A landfill is a site for the disposal of waste materials. It is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of waste with daily, intermediate and final covers only began in the 1940s. In the past, waste was ...

which had built up in the previous two years. In April 2017, 45 people including government officials, were charged in local courts for negligence and corruption resulting in prison sentences and large fines.

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. The adjacent natural hill did not slide, according to a geological report issued by the

Ministry of Land and Resources The Ministry of Land and Resources of the People's Republic of China was a ministry under the jurisdiction of the State Council of China. It was responsible for the regulation, management, preservation and exploitation of natural resources, suc ...

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 in the Hengtaiyu Industrial Park (), which is, administratively, under Guangming New District of

. The landslide reportedly ruptured a nearby section of the

West–East Gas Pipeline The West–East Gas Pipeline () is a set of natural gas pipelines which run from the western part of China to the east. PetroChina Pipelines PetroChina Pipelines is a subsidiary (72.26%) of PetroChina that managed the first three pipelines of t ...

and triggered an explosion which was heard about away. According to ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'',

PetroChina PetroChina Company Limited () is a Chinese oil and gas company and is the listed arm of state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), headquartered in Dongcheng District, Beijing. The company is currently Asia's largest oil and ga ...

stated that this was untrue, although

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...

subsequently reported that PetroChina announced its plan to lay a temporary gas pipeline to replace the damaged one. According to the Ministry of Land and Resources, the landslide occurred after a 20-storey-high mountain of dumped earth and construction waste collapsed.

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. More than 1,500 emergency rescuers were involved in the search for people trapped under the mud; , seven people had been rescued, and 76 people were still missing. Approximately 900 people have been evacuated from the area. Evacuees were billeted at a nearby sports centre.

Responses

Communist party General Secretary

Xi Jinping Xi Jinping, pronounced (born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has been the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Chairman of the Central Military Commission (China), chairman of the Central Military Commission ...

and Premier

Li Keqiang Li Keqiang ( zh, s=李克强, p=Lǐ Kèqiáng; 3 July 1955 – 27 October 2023) was a Chinese economist and politician who served as the seventh premier of China from 2013 to 2023. He was also the second-ranked member of the Politburo Standing ...

called for all-out rescue efforts. Also,

Ma Xingrui Ma Xingrui (; born October 1959) is a Chinese politician and aerospace engineer who is the Party Secretary of Xinjiang and a member of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party. Ma is recognized as one of China's top scientists. Ma served ...

, the Communist Party Secretary of

, rushed back from Beijing to Shenzhen during The

Central Economic Work Conference The Central Economic Work Conference is an annual meeting held in the People's Republic of China which sets the national agenda for the economy of China and its financial and banking sectors. It is convened jointly by the Central Committee of the ...

after hearing of this landslide. The United Nations Secretary-General

Ban Ki-moon Ban Ki-moon (born 13 June 1944) is a South Korean politician and diplomat who served as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations between 2007 and 2016. Prior to his appointment as secretary-general, Ban was the South Korean minister ...

extended his condolences to the families of the victims of the landslide. On 25 December, Ma Xingrui, along with other city officials, issued a public apology to Shenzhen citizens. 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 (), jumped off a building in Nanshan District in an apparent suicide.

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.

References

{{Shenzhen 2015 disasters in China Environmental disasters in China Disasters in Guangdong Shenzhen landslide Shenzhen landslide 2015 Shenzhen Garbage landslides December 2015 in China