Snowmelt, crumbling rock blamed for landslide

Investigators have concluded that melting snow seeping into disintegrating rock caused a massive landslide last week that killed 83 people in a mining area near Lhasa, the Tibet autonomous region.

According to a report released by the rescue headquarters on Friday, steepness of the slope, disintegrating rock and water from snowmelt combined to cause the landslide.

The report was compiled by a team of six experts led by Cen Jiafa, a researcher at a consulting center under the Ministry of Land and Resources.