Carrying out a search for the entire water area, Secretary of the Jinyang County Party Committee in Sichuan Province: In the spirit of respect for the deceased and missing persons and their families, the mountain flood | time | personnel
"The current work is intricate and complex, with tight deadlines and heavy tasks. The '8.21' flash flood disaster has put unprecedented pressure on the entire county."
According to the news on August 31 of "Jinyang Release" on the WeChat official account, Fang Fenghua, secretary of the county party committee of Jinyang County, Liangshan Prefecture, Sichuan Province, presided over a video scheduling meeting on key work promotion on August 30. He emphasized the need to make every effort to search for the missing individuals, in the spirit of "people first, life first", and in the spirit of respect for the deceased and their families, focusing on the construction site construction shed to the Jinsha River entrance riverbed, riverbank mountains and forests, and carrying out carpet style mesh excavation and search; Focus on the reservoir area from Lujian Town on the Jinsha River to the Xiluodu Dam site, and carry out patrols throughout the water area to search for missing individuals; Strengthen the safety protection of search and rescue personnel in all aspects, strictly prevent secondary disasters, and ensure search and rescue safety.
Jinyang County, Liangshan Prefecture is located to the north of the Jinsha River, with an average elevation of over 2000 meters. The river section here connects to Baihetan and Xiluodu, two medium-sized power stations. On the early morning of August 21st, a flash flood broke out in Jinyang County due to the impact of short-term heavy rainfall. The steel reinforcement processing plant of the JN1 section of the Shudao Group Riverside Expressway project located downstream of the Lujianlin River in Jinyang County was washed away, and the floor houses of migrant workers were destroyed.
On August 30th, a photo was taken of the steel reinforcement processing plant of the JN1 section of the Shudao Group Riverside Expressway project located in the lower reaches of the Lujianlin River in Jinyang County. The floor houses of migrant workers stationed there have been destroyed by flash floods. Xinhua News Agency image
The Office of the Leading Group for the Handling of the "8.21" Natural Disaster Event in Jinyang County issued a notice on August 21, stating that after preliminary verification, the natural disaster occurred at the construction site of the JN section of the Yangtze River Expressway in Dengchang Village, Lujian Town, Jinyang County. There were a total of 85 people on the construction site, and as of 13:30 on August 21, 79 people were successfully searched and rescued, while the rest of the personnel are currently searching and rescuing.
But on August 30th, a press conference held by the Sichuan Provincial People's Government revealed that after investigation and sorting, the total number of people on the construction site at the time of the disaster far exceeded 85.
On August 30th, rescue workers carried out rescue operations near the steel reinforcement processing plant of the JN1 section of the Shudao Group Riverside Expressway project located downstream of the Lujiaolin River in Jinyang County. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Shen Bohan
It was introduced at the press conference that before the disaster, according to the weather forecast and rainstorm early warning, flood prevention and emergency departments and other relevant departments carried out multiple early warning and dispatching for the JN1 bid section project of the riverside expressway. The safety director and the personnel on duty of the project department confirmed the feedback, but did not organize the personnel to avoid risks and transfer in time as required. After the disaster, Jinyang County and Liangshan Prefecture successively launched a three-level flood control emergency response, and Sichuan Province launched a fourth level flood control emergency response. The Provincial Party Committee and Provincial Government made arrangements for emergency rescue and disaster relief as soon as possible. The Provincial Defense Department immediately organized the Emergency Management Department, Water Resources Department, Transportation Department and other departments to rush to the scene and carry out rescue operations in the same area. More than 2000 rescue forces were deployed, and a network style search and rescue was carried out on the Lujiaolin River, Jinsha River water area, transportation arteries, and mountain forests along the river. After search and rescue, the bodies of four victims were salvaged ashore on August 23rd, 24th, and 27th.
"With the continuous deepening of search and verification work, it has been found that there are doubts about the number of missing persons reported by project construction enterprises." The press conference stated that a leading group for investigating and handling the "8.21" mountain flood disaster in Jinyang County, Liangshan Prefecture was immediately established at the provincial level. The public security organs shall lawfully summon and investigate personnel from the project department and labor service company of the JN1 section of the Yangtze River Expressway, and simultaneously carry out verification visits, data analysis, and other work. Strengthen collaboration and cooperation with relevant parties in Yunnan and Guizhou, and organize elite police forces to conduct on-site inquiries and inspections. After investigation and sorting, it was found that there were 201 people on the project site at the time of the disaster, of which 149 were rescued, 4 died, and 48 were lost.
Investigation and evidence collection have revealed that five individuals, including Liu from the project department and labor service company of the JN1 section of the Yangtze River Expressway, are suspected of the crime of not reporting or falsely reporting safety accidents. On August 28th, the public security organs took criminal detention measures against Liu and five others in accordance with the law. At present, the public security organs are making every effort to carry out case investigation.
Hu Yun, Deputy Governor of Sichuan Province, said at a press conference, "The flood caused casualties and loss of contact, and the painful lesson is unforgettable and alarming. What particularly saddens and enrages us is that the construction company's project department did not organize personnel to evacuate in a timely manner according to the requirements after receiving the warning, and falsely reported the number of missing persons afterwards. In this regard, we will be truthful, conduct a comprehensive investigation, and strictly hold the relevant responsible persons accountable in accordance with the law."
According to the Sichuan Daily, on the evening of August 30th, the Standing Committee of the Sichuan Provincial Party Committee held a meeting, and the Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Wang Xiaohui, presided over the meeting and delivered a speech.In accordance with the instructions and requirements of General Secretary, we have made arrangements and deployments for disaster prevention, reduction, and safety production work. In just one month, a flash flood disaster occurred in Jinyang County, causing multiple casualties and loss of contact. The lessons learned were extremely profound, especially in cases where relevant personnel were suspected of concealing and falsely reporting the number of missing persons, which had an extremely negative impact.
The meeting pointed out that we must strictly hold accountable in accordance with the law, actively cooperate with the State Council working group to carry out investigation work, and pursue responsibility truthfully; Especially for personnel suspected of concealing or falsely reporting, they shall be investigated and dealt with strictly and severely in accordance with the law.
On August 31st, a teleconference on disaster prevention, reduction, and safety production work in Sichuan Province was held in Chengdu. Provincial Party Secretary Wang Xiaohui pointed out that Sichuan is a place with frequent natural disasters. In recent times, various geological disasters and safety production accidents in the province have increased, especially on the early morning of August 21st, a flash flood disaster occurred in Jinyang County, Liangshan Prefecture, causing multiple casualties and loss of contact. This is very heartbreaking and the lessons learned are very profound. It is particularly intolerable that there have been cases where relevant personnel are suspected of concealing and falsely reporting the number of missing persons, with extremely serious circumstances and extremely negative impacts.
He also pointed out that effective measures should be taken to handle the Jinyang mountain flood disaster and strive to minimize the impact of the disaster. Continue to make every effort to search for missing personnel, scientifically formulate rescue strategies, optimize search and rescue plans, and try to understand the situation of all missing personnel as much as possible while ensuring the safety of search and rescue team members. Strictly prevent secondary disasters, timely organize key areas along the river basin for people to transfer and avoid risks, conduct inspections one by one to ensure the safety of key facilities, and promptly eliminate safety hazards in their early stages. Solidly carry out post disaster work, carry out one-on-one emotional comfort and psychological counseling for family members, and mobilize high-quality medical resources and efforts to fully treat the injured. We will conduct in-depth investigations, hold accountable those responsible, fully cooperate with the State Council working group in conducting relevant investigations and evidence collection, comprehensively review the process of disaster occurrence and response, and truthfully distinguish the responsibilities of enterprise entities, departmental supervision, and territorial management. Whoever is responsible will be investigated, forming a deterrent and a warning to others.
