17 dead in Yunnan mudslide
(01-11 15:35)
The death toll from a landslide in southwest China's Yunnan Province on Friday rose to 17 as more bodies were retrieved from the debris, local authorities said.
The landslide occurred around 8:20 a.m. in the village of Gaopo in Zhenxiong County, some 550 km northeast of Yunnan's capital city of Kunming, sources with the county government confirmed, Xinhua news agency report.
The homes of 16 families in the village have been buried in the landslide, a local government official surnamed Wang told Xinhua.
Forty-six people have been buried in the landslide, according to an initial investigation.
The local government has sent more than 300 rescuers to the scene. Rescue efforts are under way.
Zhenxiong County is adjacent to Yiliang County, where 19 people, including 18 primary school students, were killed in a landslide in October.
In September, a series of earthquakes -- with the strongest measured at 5.7 magnitude -- struck the region, leaving at least 81 people dead in Yiliang.
Geological experts said continuous rain, geological conditions and earthquakes jointly triggered last year's landslide.
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