Four missing people found alive in flood-hit Sichuan county

As of Saturday noon, four missing people were found alive and safe after a rainstorm-triggered flash flood in Hanyuan, a county under the administration of Ya'an in Sichuan province.

Meanwhile, eight bodies were recovered, with the identities of five of the victims confirmed. Twelve injured people are receiving treatment and their condition is stable, according to a news conference held in the county at 1 am on Sunday.

A total of 412 people threatened by the disaster have been safely relocated, said officials.

The flood interrupted communication and blocked roads and bridges in Xinhua village, Malie township in Hanyuan, at about 2:30 am on Saturday.

A preliminary investigation showed that more than 30 people were missing, 1,524 people were affected and over 40 houses and over 60 kilometers of roads were damaged.

According to the Hanyuan county emergency management bureau, Ya'an launched the first-level emergency response for natural disasters, the first-level emergency response for flood prevention, and the second-level emergency response for geological disasters, and immediately established the emergency rescue headquarters in Malie township, Hanyuan, to carry out search and rescue and restoration of roads and communication.

Wang Xiaohui, secretary of the Sichuan provincial committee of the Communist Party of China, immediately put forward requirements for the search and rescue of missing persons and rushed to the disaster site on Saturday afternoon to command the rescue operations.

Shi Xiaolin, acting governor of Sichuan, also rushed to the disaster site from the Aba Tibetan and Qiang autonomous prefecture in the province, said Gao Yang, an information officer with the Ya'an municipal government information office.

The emergency rescue headquarters organized 23 rescue teams with 443 people, coordinated more than 1,500 communication drones, long arm excavators, underwater detection equipment, emergency mechanized bridges, emergency communication vehicles in precise search and rescue operations in the affected parts of Xinhua village.

Sichuan police dispatched 300 officers, more than 70 police cars, drones, and mobile communication equipment to Hanyuan, fully cooperating with professional rescue workers on site to search and rescue trapped persons and relocate people, the conference said.

The State Grid Sichuan Electric Power Company mobilized emergency rescue teams with 180 people to ensure power supply. Thanks to its efforts, power supply resumed in the emergency headquarters and emergency resettlement sites.