【英语中国】舟曲死亡人数急升 灾难根源引关注

Rescuers continued to pull bodies from the site of a massive mudslide in northwest China that has so far killed more than 700, while questions began to rise about what triggered the massive wall of mud and dirt that carved a path of destruction through the remote area.

The official death toll of the weekend mudslide in Gansu province's Zhouqu county increased sharply Tuesday to 702 -- far more than the 127 first reported dead on Sunday -- with more than a thousand people still missing. As torrential rains continued to take a heavy toll on the country, the disaster points to the grim cost of China's fast-paced development in ecologically fragile regions such as Gansu's mountainous valleys.

On Tuesday, Vice Premier Hui Liangyu exhorted rescuers to step up their efforts before the window for finding survivors closed. Beijing has mobilized army and paramilitary police units to the area to aid in the rescue.

State media have highlighted the efforts of the emergency services, and given prominence to a visit to the scene by Premier Wen Jiabao.

Some Chinese activists seeking answers to what caused the side of a mountain to cave in concluded that the Gansu mudslide was a disaster waiting to happen after unchecked development in the region, and that more tragedies could be in store in other parts of China where nature's balance has been upended.

Flooding plagues China annually, but this year the problem has been particularly severe, affecting 28 provinces. Prior to the disaster, the People's Daily, the official mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, set the death toll from the rains this year at 1,072. The mudslides in Gansu have been by far the most deadly incident from the flooding.

Officials described the Gansu mudslide as a natural disaster set in motion by unremitting rains. The rains caused the Bailong River in the southwest of Gansu province to break its banks, causing widespread devastation across Zhouqu county.

That official version was fast falling under question as activists collated government and media reports that for years have warned that overexploitation of the local rivers and forests would trigger landslides. By Tuesday evening, Internet links to at least some of those research papers had been removed. China's Internet is heavily censored and Chinese websites routinely take down content deemed sensitive, for fear of punishment.

The flooding that led to the Zhouqu disaster 'is certainly resulting from decades of deforestation in the headwater region of the Bailong river,' said environmentalist Wen Bo, a senior fellow with U.S.-based Pacific Environment.

An overreliance on dams further contributed to the situation, he said. 'This all shows that the law of nature has to be respected and the government should realize if they do not take the ecosystem seriously, then it will eventually cost more in the end,' he said.

Scientists have already linked deforestation and dams to landslides in at least one other place. In 2003, shortly after water levels on the Yangtze River started rising when part of the giant Three Gorges Dam was completed, a slice of mountainside collapsed into the river, killing 13 farmers.

甘肃省舟曲县泥石流现场，救援人员继续挖掘遇难者遗体。到目前为此，这场灾难已造成700多人死亡，同时人们开始发问，是什么原因造成大量泥浆席卷而下，在这个偏远地区撕开了一道巨大的伤痕。

Reuters甘肃舟曲县泥石流灾害的救援人员抬出一具遇难者遗体。泥石流发生在刚刚过去的周末。官方周二发布的死亡数字急剧上升至702人，远高于周日第一次发布的127人。另有千余人仍失踪。在暴雨继续横扫全国之际，这场灾难不由让人联想到中国生态脆弱地区高速发展带来的沉重代价，其中就比如甘肃的山川地区。

周二，国务院副总理回良玉勉励救援人员抓紧时机加大搜救努力。北京已调派解放军和武警部队前往灾区参与救援。

官方媒体强调了各应急机构采取的措施，并特别突出国务院总理温家宝对灾区的视察。

中国一些活动人士力图弄清是什么原因造成了山体一侧崩塌。他们得出结论认为，在这个地区经历没有节制的发展过后，泥石流不过是一场注定要发生的灾难，问题只在时间早晚；而在中国生态平衡遭到破坏的其他地区，更多的悲剧可能还会发生。

中国每年都有洪灾发生，但今年洪灾影响了28个省份，问题尤为严峻。在舟曲泥石流发生之前，党报《人民日报》报道的今年洪灾死亡人数是1,072人。到目前为止，舟曲泥石流是洪水导致的死亡人数最多的灾难。

官方认为这场泥石流是连日暴雨引发的。雨水造成位于甘肃西南的白龙江溃堤，在整个舟曲县造成了大范围的破坏。

官方的描述很快受到质疑。活动人士整理了多年来曾提出警告的政府报告和媒体报导，说当地河流和森林的过度开发将会引发山体滑坡。到周二晚上，至少部分研究论文的互联网链接已经失效。中国的互联网受到严格审查，中国网站因担心受到惩罚，经常删除被视为敏感的内容。

环保人士、美国太平洋环境组织(Pacific Environment)高级研究员温波说，导致舟曲灾难的洪水肯定是白龙江源头地区数十年的森林砍伐的恶果。

他说，对水坝的过度依赖进一步加剧了风险。他说，这些都说明，要尊重自然规律，政府应当认识到，如果不认真对待生态系统，那么最终代价将会更大。

科学界至少曾在另外一个地方证实森林砍伐、水坝与泥石流之间的关系。2003年三峡大坝部分完工时，当长江水位开始上升后不久，一处山体即发生滑坡，滑坡体坠入江内，造成13名农民身亡。