2nd LD: Reinforcements arrive for Shenzhen rescue operation

Seventy-eight excavators and 1,200 rescuers have been added to the operation searching for the 91 people missing after Sunday's landslide in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen.

There are now 2,906 rescuers digging through silt and rubble at the industrial park. The excavators, which arrived at the site on Monday morning, are the first to be involved in the operation.

Fifty-nine males and 32 females remained missing as of Monday morning after the disaster, caused by the collapse of a huge pile of construction waste.

The landslide covered 380,000 square meters in silt 10 meters deep, said Liu Qingsheng, deputy mayor of Shenzhen, at a press conference on Monday.

The 33 buildings buried include 14 factory buildings, two office buildings, one canteen, three dormitories and 13 low-rise buildings.

There are unlikely to be further landslides, said a team of 200 geology and gas experts involved in the rescue.

PetroChina, owner of China's major West-to-East natural gas pipeline that exploded as the landslide hit, said it has emptied the 400-meter-long ruptured pipe and is building a temporary replacement.

Two checkpoints have been established to register and verify information on the missing people

The 900 people evacuated after the landslide are staying in temporary settlements at a nearby sports center, community workstation and hospital.

"We are providing food and drinks, mattresses and quilts to meet people's basic needs," said Chen Jun, a volunteer at Guangming District Sports Center.

A medical station with 16 medics has also been set up near the landslide site, a doctor from Guangming New District Central Hospital told Xinhua. Endi