Xinhua
August 24, 2006

An accident at Shuanglong hydropower station near the city of Yibin in Sichuan swept seven workers to their death, left one person missing and injured six others.

Yibin, Sichuan: A pressure forebay in a hydropower station in southwest China’s Sichuan province collapsed on Monday, sweeping seven people to their death, injuring six others and leaving one person missing, a local official said Wednesday. The accident took place at about 8 p.m. Monday at the Shuanglong Hydropower Station in Pingshan County, Yibin City in southern Sichuan, said Tao Zhiquan, vice mayor of Yibin. The hydropower station was in the process of storing water when the pressure forebay on the mountain side of the station – containing 1,000 cubic meters of water – suddenly collapsed, he said. The sudden flood dislodged huge rocks and swept away downstream construction workers and their makeshift houses. Five people were killed on the spot, six others injured and three more were missing, he said. “We have since recovered the bodies of two missing workers,” he said. “More than 30 people are now searching for the last missing person, but there is little hope for survival.” He said the six injured workers were rushed to a local hospital after the accident. Five of them are now in a stable condition, while one critically injured person is still in danger. “The pressure forebay is limited to 1,000 cubic meters of water, so this tragic accident will not affect the lives of residents in the lower reaches of the river,” he said. The cause of the accident is being investigated. Pingshan is a mountainous area of 1,531 square kilometers and a population of 293,000 people. More than 100 rivers and streams flow through the county. It has about 18 hydropower stations.