Is the Shenzhen landslide the first of many more?

This is the first time experts know of a slide of construction waste, but it fits a pattern of catastrophes that have become endemic to developing countries

The deadly landslide that buried part of the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen beneath a tide of red mud on Monday may be a devastating new consequence of China's urban explosion, an expert has warned.

The destruction of 94 acres of the Guangming New District, which had sprung from the rice paddies in just a few decades, was sudden but a long time in coming. Even as the the neighbourhoods and factories were being built, the mountain of refuse that would destroy it all was piling up.