Death toll rises to 22, 23 still missing in SW China landslide

Two more bodies were recovered on Friday morning from a landslide in southwestern China's Guizhou Province, bring the total death toll to 22 with rescuers still working against the clock for the other 23 missing.

View of debris of a landslide, killing 22 people, in Shuicheng County, Liupanshui City, southwest China's Guizhou Province, July 24, 2019. [Photo: IC]

The two bodies were respectively found on the east and west side of the landslide, one at 9:50 a.m. and the other at round 11:00 a.m.

Another five bodies were pulled out earlier on Friday, including three children and two women, a local fire department official confirmed.

There are currently 11 known survivors.

At about 9:20 p.m. on Tuesday, a landslide hit a village in Shuicheng County, Liupanshui City, burying over 20 houses.

The volume of silt in the landslide was estimated to be more than two million cubic meters.

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday gave instructions on the disaster-relief work and called for all-out effort for those affected.

Thirty million yuan (about 4.35 million U.S. dollars) has also been allocated from China's central budget for disaster relief by the ministries of finance and emergency management.

According to the local authority, 23 households with a total number of 77 people were in the affected area. Among them, 21 people were not in the village when the landslide occurred.