Rescuers with bulldozers dug through tonnes of earth and rubble yesterday for 48 people missing after a landslide buried an open-pit mine in northern China.

The death toll rose to five.

The search had to be suspended for several hours after a second landslide at the gigantic facility in Inner Mongolia's Alxa League.

More than a dozen bulldozers, trucks, SUVs and fire engines were seen passing through a remote police checkpoint 25 kilometers southwest of the mine.

The initial cave-in of one of the pit's walls struck on Wednesday, burying people and mining trucks below in tonnes of rocks and sand. It was followed five hours later by the second landslide, forcing work suspension. Xinhua News Agency said about 900 rescuers with heavy equipment were at the scene.

President Xi Jinping called for all-out efforts in search and rescue and for "ensuring the safety of people's lives and property and maintaining overall social stability."

The company running the mine, Inner Mongolia Xinjing Coal Industry, was fined last year for multiple safety violations, said news website The Paper.

Associated Press

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Rescue work under way at the site. AP

48 still missing in deadly mine collapse