Nine confirmed dead after Shaanxi landslide

Nine out of 65 people missing in a landslide in Shaanxi province last week have been confirmed dead after their bodies were found over the weekend, according to Shanyang county government.

The landslide hit a vanadium mine in Shanyang early on Wednesday, burying 15 miners' dormitories and three farmers' houses with more than 1.3 million cubic meters of mud and stones.

Kang Mingliang, a spokesman for the county government, said the first body was found at about 3:30 pm on Sunday.

A rescue team from the provincial armed police headquarters was searching for those missing, including villagers, miners and their families, as well as construction workers.

Continued landslides, a huge amount of mud and stones and cramped working conditions have slowed progress on rescue work, said Chen Jun, chief engineer of an armed police road construction team.

"A second landslide hit the area on Thursday, adding another million cubic meters of mud and stones," Chen said.

The working conditions made it difficult for large excavation machinery to reach the scene, Chen added.

"After the first body was found, we had to use our hands to dig to avoid harming other bodies," the armed police officer said.

Rescuers were continuing to search for the 56 still missing, but weather forecasters said the accident scene would be hit by rain from Monday to Wednesday, making this work more difficult.

Xue Chunfang, deputy director of the Shaanxi provincial Meteorological Bureau, said the rain could trigger more landslides at the scene.

Several vanadium mines are in the area, and residents have often voiced concern about the effect of mining on the environment.

Xinhua contributed to this story.

malie@chinadaily.com.cn