BEIJING
\nThe death toll from a landslide in China\u2019s Yunnan province rose to 20 on Tuesday afternoon as rescue workers battled freezing temperatures and snow to locate dozens of missing people.
\nRescuers worked through the night sifting deep mounds of earth at the site of the landslide in Zhenxiong County, state-owned China Central Television (CCTV) reported on Tuesday.
\nOne rescuer said large machines cannot be used due to the unstable soil, according to a report from local media outlet The Cover, owned by the Sichuan Daily Newspaper Press Group.
\n\u201cIf the excavation is unloaded below, the top may continue to collapse. It is difficult to carry out large-scale mechanical operations, and it is very difficult to rescue on site,\u201d the worker was quoted as saying in the report.
\nAfter the landslide hit on Monday, at least 47 people from 18 households were reported missing, CCTV said, adding that 20 of those people were now confirmed dead. Another 24 were still missing and three other people had been accounted for by the rescue team.
\nAnother two people were hospitalized for head and body injuries, the national health commission said.
\nThe landslide hit two villages in the southwestern city of Zhaotong at about 5:51 a.m. (2151 GMT), covering houses in brown mountain soil at the foot of a hill, CCTV reported.
\n\u201cThe mountain just collapsed, dozens were buried,\u201d a man surnamed Gu, who witnessed the landslide, told the state-owned TV station for the neighbouring province of Guizhou. Gu said four of his relatives were buried under the rubble.
\n\u201cThey were all sleeping in their homes,\u201d he said.
\nMore than 500 people were evacuated from their homes, CCTV said.
\nOfficials told a press conference on Tuesday the landslide was triggered at a steep cliff area at the top of a mountain slope.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BEIJING The death toll from a landslide in China\u2019s Yunnan province rose to 20 on Tuesday afternoon as rescue workers battled freezing temperatures and snow to locate dozens of missing people. Rescuers worked through the night sifting deep mounds of earth at the site of the landslide in Zhenxiong County, state-owned China Central Television (CCTV) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-382669","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n