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Thousands missing in northwestern China mudslides. A series of rain-triggered mudslides in China’s
Gansu Province on Sunday, August 8, took the lives of at least 127, with 76 others confirmed
injured as rescuers raced to save some 2,000 others missing. The slides, which occurred
in Zhougu County in Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, blocked the flow of a river, creating
a 3-kilometer lake that later burst, sending mud, rocks and water into nearby buildings
and homes. Some 3,000 troops and 100 medical workers were sent to assist rescue operations
and evacuate 45,000 residents as the government raised the national disaster relief response
level to its second highest. Two helicopters with demolition experts have also been dispatched
to blast away the landslide obstructions that formed the lake. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao
flew to the scene, instructing for all measures necessary to save lives, with emergency supplies
of food, water and thousands of tents that are being sent to the area.
With our prayers for the protection of the disaster-stricken, we thank Your Excellency
and all officials and personnel working to help the landslide victims. Our sincere sympathies
for the lives lost as we pray that such tragic calamities soon lessen through our eco-balancing
ways�