Final landslide death toll announced [Archives:2006/909/Local News]

SANA'A, Jan. 3 – Search and rescue teams Tuesday night concluded the search for bodies buried by rubble in the landslide-affected village of Al-Dhafir, Bani Matar.

According to Saba News Net, Sana'a governor Abdul-Wahid Al-Bukhaiti said rescue teams concluded their search for survivors and bodies in Al-Dhafir, while victims' families made sure none were left beneath rubble.

Bukhaiti said the final death toll from the landslide was 65 and eight injured. He added that the task of rescue teams now is to reconstruct affected houses and provide shelter for the village's homeless families. In this regard, the Yemeni Cabinet agreed to reconstruct Al-Dhafir, rebuilding on a new site for those families left homeless.

Al-Dhafir was destroyed Wednesday, Dec. 28 when a mountaintop landslide hit more than 23 houses. Sixteen of the destroyed houses were inhabited at the time of the avalanche.

On the same front, Al-Shour Net reported that a large rock tumbled down a mountain in Haijat Al-Shaer village in Taiz governorate at around 2 p.m. Tuesday. The large rock fell and destroyed qat fields. No one was reported injured but many were panicked. Villagers say rockslides occur in the area due to last summer's heavy rains.
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