BEIJING
At least 12 people were confirmed dead and 52 others remain missing Monday, five days after a landslide hit a mine in northwest China.
State news agency Xinhua reported local rescuers in Shanyang County, Shaanxi province, as saying that the majority of the bodies were recovered between Sunday afternoon and Monday morning, and rescue teams have begun searching a larger area.
The landslide brought down nearly 1.3 million cubic meters of dirt and wreckage on 15 dorms and three houses at the Wuzhou Mining Company in the county.
Xinhua reported that 10 people had managed to escape the disaster, while four others were rescued and transported to hospital.
One of those who fled had earlier been quoted as saying he was woken by people shouting about the danger.
"Those who ran down the mountain were buried by the landslide. Many just had no time, as the landslide buried the area in mere minutes," Zhou Kunlin told Xinhua.
President Xi Jingping had ordered an all-out rescue effort, but operations had been hampered by mud and rubble, as well as the risk of a secondary landslide.
