Landslide hits mountain village in China; 46 killed

China landslide: Rescuers work to clear debris after a landslide hit a village in Zhenxiong County, southwest China's Yunnan Province. IMAGE

AP Photo: Xinhua, Shi Shengming. China landslide: Rescuers work to clear debris after a landslide hit a village in Zhenxiong County, southwest China's Yunnan Province. IMAGE

1/12/13

A preliminary investigation blames 10 days of rain and snow for a landslide in China that buried 14 homes.

BEIJING — Chinese authorities have recovered the bodies of 46 people buried and killed Friday by a landslide that swept through a village in the steep, snow-dusted mountains of southern China, state media reported Saturday.

The landslide smothered 14 homes in Zhaojiagou village in Yunnan province, the local county government of Zhenxiong said in public statements posted on its official website.

The state-run China Central Television said Saturday that all of the victims had been recovered.

A preliminary investigation blames saturation from more than 10 days of rain and snow for the disaster.

Photos posted on the website of the Yunnan Daily, the official newspaper of the provincial government, showed rescue crews in orange jumpsuits using construction machinery to sift through massive piles of mud and earth. Behind them stood hillsides and pine trees covered in snow, signs of the unusually cold winter that has hit China.

Mudslides occur periodically in the region, which is prone to earthquakes and heavy rains. In a nearby county, 81 people died after an earthquake in September. A month later, a landslide buried a primary school, leaving 18 students and one other person dead.

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