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Death toll in southwest China landslides rises to six

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-08-09 23:36

KUNMING - Rescuers found four more corpses from two separate landslide heaps happening on Saturday in southwest China's Yunnan Province, bringing the death toll of the landslides to six.

Due to continuous rainy weather, a landslide took place at about 8:00 a.m. in Dulong Township in Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, a mountainous region that sits on the Sino-Vietnamese border, burying at least 16 workers who were working inside a workshop owned by a local stone business.

Rescuers altogether found three corpses from the landslide debris with Wenshan County by 9 p.m. on Saturday. And five were confirmed injured and eight others remained missing, according to the information office of Wenshan County.

Wenshan county falls under jurisdiction of Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture.

A spokesman with the office said the figure for those being buried, and those missing were not final.

Identities of the dead remained unknown.

The injured were hospitalized.

In a related development, sustained torrential rains in the past days also caused mud-and-rock flow and landslide in two villages in Malipo County, also in Wenshan prefecture, around 2:40 p.m. on Saturday, leaving three dead, one more missing and three injured.

Rescue efforts for those missing are underway in both counties, according to the information of the autonomous prefecture.