On May 17th, a tea factory in Jinghong City, Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province, experienced a collapse of earthworks, trapping 6 people, resulting in 3 deaths and 3 injuries requiring medical treatment.
According to an official announcement on May 18th from the National Fire and Rescue Bureau of the Chinese Communist Party, at around 3 p.m. on May 17th, a tea factory in Jie Zhuo Village, Kino Mountain Township, Jinghong City, Yunnan Province, experienced a collapse of earthworks, trapping 6 people.
It wasn’t until 9:50 p.m. that night that all 6 trapped individuals were rescued, with 3 fatalities and 3 taken to the hospital for treatment. The cause of the accident remains unclear.
Images circulating online showed that the earthworks were relatively deep, with the trapped individuals compressed together, leaving only the heads of two people visible above the surface. The site’s mud was not wet.
On the afternoon of May 17th, the Yunnan Meteorological Observatory issued a warning at 2:20 p.m., stating that within the next 12 hours, there would be strong thunderstorm activities in the southern part of Nujiang Prefecture, Lijiang City, Dali Prefecture, Pu’er City, and Xishuangbanna Prefecture. The likelihood of thunderstorm disasters occurring was high, with locally strong winds over Beaufort scale 9, large hailstones, and intense short-term precipitation.
Internet users commented, “The earthworks are really deep.” “Wishing for safety, there have been too many accidents this year.” “What’s happening this year, disasters everywhere.”
Earlier on April 15th, in the evening, Pingshan County, Yibin City, Sichuan Province, experienced intense short-term precipitation and thunderstorm with strong winds. The roof of the factory building at Qi Si Tea Factory in Yanmen Village, Dacheng Town, collapsed. At that time, 26 workers were asleep inside the factory. Fortunately, they all managed to escape to safety.