A mud-rock flow that hit a southwest China city has forced more than 3,000 people from their homes since last Friday, Xinhua quoted local officials as saying. No casualties have yet been reported from the natural disaster at Guangyuan City, Sichuan Province. Local government officials said the incident occurred at 8:00 a.m. on Friday when an estimated 500,000 cubic meters of mud and rock flowed down a 150-meter high hill in Qingchuan County and blocked a river, forming a 16-meter-deep lake within a few hours. The mud-rock formed a dam about 150 meters long and 150 meters wide, allowing about 7.2 million cubic meters of water to accumulate. The dam was in danger of collapsing at any time, said Wang Jianbo, a local Party official, adding that 1,500 people from 480 households living in villages near the dam had been evacuated by Saturday. Traffic, electricity supply and telecommunications in the area have been cut off. Meanwhile, more than 2,800 mu (187 ha) of crop land were submerged. By Monday morning, another 1,500 people in the area had been evacuated. Meanwhile, the water level of the lake had dropped to nine meters after two days of draining. "We still need one or two days to drain the water to safe level," Wang said.
