China's polar research icebreaker Xuelong, which is on the country's 42nd Antarctic expedition, docked at the Lyttelton Port in New Zealand on Sunday evening for material replenishment and personnel rotation.
During its stay at the port, Xuelong (Snow Dragon) will supplement fuel, fresh water and other supplies, as well as pick up 34 team members for the marine expedition.
The icebreaker is scheduled to leave New Zealand on Thursday and will head for the Antarctica to carry out a comprehensive exploration.
Meanwhile, another China's polar research icebreaker Xuelong 2 is now sailing towards the Great Wall Station, the first Chinese research station in Antarctica, after completing its port call and replenishment in Punta Arenas, Chile.
China's Xuelong docks in New Zealand for material supply, personnel rotation
The death toll from a landfill collapse in the central Philippine city of Cebu has risen to eight by Monday morning as search and rescue operations continued for another 28 missing people.
The landfill collapse occurred on Thursday as dozens of sanitation workers were working at the site. The disaster has already caused injuries of 18 people.
Family members of the missing people said the rescue progress is slow, and the hope for the survival of their loved ones is fading.
"For me, maybe I’ve accepted the worst result already because the garbage is poisonous and yesterday, it was raining very hard the whole day. Maybe they’ve been poisoned. For us, alive or dead, I hope we can get their bodies out of the garbage rubble," said Maria Kareen Rubin, a family member of a victim.
Families have set up camps on high ground near the landfill, awaiting news of their relatives. Some people at the site said cries for help could still be heard hours after the landfill collapsed, but these voices gradually faded away.
Bienvenido Ranido, who lost his wife in the disaster, said he can't believe all that happened.
"After they gave my wife oxygen, my kids and I were expecting that she would be saved that night because she was still alive. But the night came and till the next morning, they didn't manage to save her," he said.
Death toll in central Philippine landfill collapse rises to eight
