China landslide: At least 15 killed, 120 missing

Beijing, June 25: Fifteen persons have been confirmed dead in a landslide in China's Sichuan Province on Saturday that buried more than 120 people from 62 homes.

Rescuers had retrieved 15 bodies from the debris by Saturday night, the rescue headquarters said, Xinhua news agency reported on Sunday.

The search and rescue operation was underway overnight and people have been sent to observe potential secondary disasters.

Rescuers were combing the area with life detectors and sniffer dogs but no new signs of life have been found. "We won't give up," said one rescuer. Xu Zhiwen, Executive Deputy Governor of the Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture of Aba that the landslide stuck, said the identities of 118 missing will be soon made public on the government's website.

Xu also cleared up worries that some tourists might be among the buried as the village is in a tourist site.

The landslide from a high part of a mountain in Aba prefecture hit Xinmo Village in Maoxian County, blocking a 2-km section of river and burying 1,600 meters of road.

The provincial government has launched the highest level of disaster relief response and sent rescue teams to the site.

Currently, more than 3,000 workers with life-detection instruments are engaged in the search for survivors.

Geological experts at the site said the chance of survival for the people buried was really slim. Only three persons from one family were rescued five hours after the landslide struck. They were taken to Maoxian County People's Hospital and none suffered life-threatening injuries. Another three-year-old child of the family remains buried.

IANS