BEIJING, China
The death toll from a landslide in China's Yunnan province rose to 11 on Tuesday as rescue workers battled freezing temperatures and snow to locate dozens of missing people.
Rescuers worked through the
night sifting deep mounds of earth at the site of the landslide in Zhenxiong
County, state-owned China Central Television (CCTV) reported on Tuesday.
One rescuer said large
machines cannot be used due to the unstable soil, according to a report from
local media outlet The Cover, owned by the Sichuan Daily Newspaper Press Group.
"If the excavation is
unloaded below, the top may continue to collapse. It is difficult to carry out
large-scale mechanical operations, and it is very difficult to rescue on
site," the worker was quoted as saying in the report.
After the landslide hit on Monday, at least 47 people from 18 households were reported missing, CCTV said.
Eight of the missing were found dead on Monday afternoon, according to Zhaotong Daily, a local state-owned media outlet.
Another two people were
hospitalized for head and body injuries, the national health commission said.
The landslide hit two villages
in the southwestern city of Zhaotong at about 5:51 a.m. (2151 GMT), covering
houses in brown mountain soil at the foot of a hill, CCTV reported.
"The mountain just
collapsed, dozens were buried," a man surnamed Gu, who witnessed the
landslide, told the state-owned TV station for the neighbouring province of
Guizhou. Gu said four of his relatives were buried under the rubble.
"They were all sleeping
in their homes," he said.
More than 500 people were
evacuated from their homes, CCTV said.
Officials told a press
conference on Tuesday the landslide was triggered at a steep cliff area at the
top of a mountain slope.
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