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Alert resident saves 28 people from landslide

Just 10 minutes before a massive landslide, a man stopped 15 cars heading into the danger zone, preventing what could have become a tragedy.

Continuous rain in recent days loosened rocks and mud on the steep mountains surrounding Beijing. At 8:30 am on Saturday, some 30,000 cubic meters of large rocks fell, covering a section of a mountain road in Fangshan district.

Cars were traveling along the road, their drivers unaware of the impending danger. No casualties resulted, nor were any cars damaged, thanks to local resident An Hongsan who had a hunch about the slide and stopped the cars in time.

In June 2017, along with other villagers, An joined a grassroots geological disaster prevention team organized by the Fangshan branch of the Beijing Municipal Commission for City Planning and Land Resources Management.

"I patrol about 4 to 5 kilometers of this road two or three times every day, checking for falling rocks and monitoring the water levels in rivers," he said.

He recalled that he felt something different on Saturday morning. "I heard the sound of rocks falling down the mountain before I left the village."

"When I arrived at the section, I saw big rocks on the road," he said. "I felt very nervous because it seemed that rocks were falling down continuously in that particular area of the mountain."

He immediately began stopping the cars traveling toward the area and called some of his colleagues and neighbors to help him. A total of 15 cars carrying 28 people were stopped on the road.

Videos of the massive landslide have circulated online and An's heroism has drawn appreciation from many.

"I am not a hero; that is just my job," An said.

In recent years, Beijing planners have mobilized residents to join natural disaster prevention efforts.

Every year, before the rainy season, training is arranged to improve the patrolling capabilities at the grassroots level to prevent disasters.

The municipal flood control headquarters said on Saturday that the city would continue to be affected by heavy rains for three days and warned of possible landslides and other geological disasters.

Source: Xinhua  Editor:Lucky

(Source_title:Alert resident saves 28 people from landslide)

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