Rescue efforts have been underway after a landslide struck Pengshui Miao and Tujia Autonomous County in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality on Friday.
The geological disaster saw massive amounts of rock and soil wash downslope at 09:08 (01:08 GMT) on Friday, burying more than 10 residential buildings, while leaving some local residents trapped and unaccounted for.
Ten people had been rescued as of 14:00. All of those rescued are in stable condition with no life-threatening injuries, while more than 1,100 residents living in the vicinity of the disaster site have been evacuated to safety, according to local authorities.
To facilitate risk investigation and prevent secondary hazards, supplies of water, electricity and gas within a 1-kilometer radius around the affected area have been temporarily suspended. Over 800 rescuers are carrying out search and rescue operations at the site.
The National Commission for Disaster Prevention, Reduction and Relief activated a Level-IV national disaster relief emergency response and sent a work team to assess the situation and assist local authorities in ensuring the basic living needs of affected residents.
The commission's office and the ministry, together with the National Food and Strategic Reserves Administration, allocated 8,000 items of central disaster relief supplies to Chongqing, including tents, folding beds and family emergency kits.
The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Emergency Management, meanwhile, have allocated 50 million yuan (7.36 million U.S. dollars) in central government natural disaster relief funds to support emergency rescue and relief operations as well as provide assistance to affected residents.
The funds will prioritize search and rescue efforts, hazard elimination and risk mitigation, inspections for hidden dangers of secondary disasters, relocation and resettlement of displaced people, and repair of damaged or collapsed housing, in order to minimize disaster losses and casualties.
Rescue efforts underway after landslide hits China's Chongqing
Iran is working to secure the Strait of Hormuz and remains resolutely determined to defend itself, deputy head and spokesman of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Behrouz Kamalvandi said in Vienna.
Speaking on the sidelines of the 70th General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Kamalvandi said that only a handful of ships are currently moving through the strait, disputing U.S. claims that traffic through the strategic waterway is increasing.
"We are doing all our best to secure the situation, to secure the Strait of Hormuz. But the number of ships is not the number that they are claiming. We have only a one-digit number of ships which are in traffic, going and coming into the Strait of Hormuz," said Kamalvandi.
As the conflict remains unsettled, he emphasized that Iran will hold strong in defense of itself for as long as circumstances require.
"If you are under invasion, you have every card to play to defend yourself. So we have more than cards. We have, of course, enough cards, but more than cards, we have a very strong will to defend our country. And of course we will be able to prevail in this situation no matter how much pressure they put on us," said Kamalvandi.
According to Iran's state-run IRIB news agency reports on Monday, Austria has denied a visa to president of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Mohammad Eslami, who was scheduled to deliver a speech at the 70th Regular Session of the IAEA General Conference later in the day. The reports cited "obstructionism" by the United States and certain other countries as the reason.
Kamalvandi sharply criticized the decision to prevent Eslami from attending this week's IAEA General Conference.
"They issued a visa about two weeks ago. But all of a sudden, under pressure from Americans, they revoked it. And, this is not good. This is something that is not a matter only for Iran, it is a matter of international issue. And I think everybody, every country has to react," he said.
The 70th Regular Session of the IAEA General Conference, running from Monday to Friday, has drawn nearly 4,000 senior officials and representatives from IAEA member states, and delegations of international organizations and non-governmental organizations.
Iran maintains "strong will" to defend itself: Iranian nuclear official
