31 dead in southwest China landslide

BEIJING: The death toll from a landslide that struck a remote and mountainous part of southwestern China reached 31 on Tuesday, state media said, as rescuers raced to find those still trapped under the debris.

The pre-dawn landslide buried 18 homes and sparked the evacuation of more than 200 people when it struck in Zhenxiong county, Yunnan province early Monday.

Nearly 36 hours since the disaster, 31 people have been confirmed dead, state news agency Xinhua said.

An earlier report Tuesday afternoon by state broadcaster CCTV, which announced the toll had risen to 20, added that 24 people were still missing at that time.

Xinhua said rescue workers were in a “race against time” to find those still missing, after a night of sub-zero temperatures.

“Search and rescue efforts persisted through the night,” firefighter Li Shenglong told Xinhua.