Dozens die in landslide; Xi orders all-out rescue

Latest: The death toll of the landslide rose to 44.

Rescuers carry a body away after a landslide hit Gaopo village, Zhenxiong county of Zhaotong city, Southwest China's Yunnan province, on Jan 11, 2013.  [Photo by Zhang Guangyu]

KUNMING - The death toll in a landslide that hit a mountainous region in Southwest China's Yunnan province on Friday has risen to 44, after more bodies have been retrieved.

Chinese leadersXi Jinping,Wen JiabaoandLi Keqianghave ordered all-out efforts to rescue victims of the landslide in order to minimize casualties from the disaster.

Xi, general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, said efforts must be made to resettle affected residents, prevent secondary disasters and successfully complete relief work and reconstruction so as to ensure stability.

At that time of Xi's announcement, rescue work was ongoing amid the debris in Gaopo village, Zhenxiong county, located some 550 km Northeast of Yunnan's capital city of Kunming, according to the publicity department.

The landslide hit the village around 8:20 am, burying the homes of local villagers, a local government official surnamed Wang told Xinhua.

Two injured people have been sent to a nearby hospital, and it has been confirmed that their injuries are not life-threatening.

As of 8:40 pm, rescue work was still underway as snow fell on the site of the disaster.

According to initial accounts, 46 residents - 27 adults and 19 children - of Gaopo village were buried in the landslide, according to the local civil affairs bureau.

The landslide mass has been estimated at 300 meters long, 80 meters wide and 30 meters deep, said authorities with the county government.

"The landslide, which brought about massive amount of watery mud to the village, buried all of the houses there and created great difficulties for rescue efforts amid low temperatures," said Sun Anfa, the leader of a local rescue team.

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