16 confirmed dead, 24 missing in mudslide

CHENGDU - Sixteen bodies have been recovered following a rain-triggered mudslide that occurred in southwest China's Sichuan province on June 28, an official from the local rescue command center said Wednesday.

As of 6 pm Tuesday, rescuers had pulled 14 bodies from the Jinsha River, a major river located upstream of the Yangtze River, as well as discovered another two bodies earlier in the mudslide-hit region, the official said.

The search along the river is continuing. Twenty-four people remain missing following the disaster.

Torrential downpours unleashed a mudslide at a construction site for the Baihetan Hydropower Station in Ningnan county on June 28. The station's staff and their relatives are among the dead and missing.