Pu'er, China— Three workers are confirmed dead after a sudden flash flood ripped through a roadside logging camp in the hills of Yunnan province early Saturday.
Rain started around 3 a.m. Hard, fast rain that filled gullies in minutes. The camp sat just meters from a seasonal stream beside a county road. It was made of tin sheets and timber posts. No foundations.
By 4:20 a.m., the stream broke its banks. A wall of water and mud hit the camp. Logs stacked for transport were picked up and hurled like battering rams. The entire camp was gone in under two minutes.
Two workers were pulled from the mud by colleagues who ran uphill. Three others were swept downstream. Their bodies were found 400 meters away, tangled in roots and debris. A fourth worker remains unaccounted for but officials have not listed him as missing pending verification.
“The water came with no sound at first,” one survivor said. “Then the ground shook. We shouted but the lights went out.”
People’s Daily reported the area had received 68 millimeters of rain in two hours, overwhelming drainage. Yunnan’s forestry department said the camp was operating under a temporary permit and had been warned last month about building too close to the watercourse.
Rescue teams from the county emergency bureau arrived with excavators at dawn. They cut through fallen trees blocking the road. Geologists were called in because the slope above the camp showed fresh cracks.
Local authorities ordered all similar roadside camps in the prefecture to evacuate low-lying sites. The county weather bureau said more heavy rain is forecast through Sunday. Villagers downstream were told to move livestock.
Officials said recovery work was hampered by continued rain and unstable terrain.
The search along the riverbank continues and the final casualty count remains under review.
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