Rescuers work at the landslide site in this photo taken with a mobile phone at Gaopo Village of Zhenxiong County, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Jan. 11, 2013. More than 10 residential houses with over 40 people were buried after a landslide happened at the village early Friday morning, according to local officials. Eight people have been confirmed dead by now. (Xinhua/Wu Ruzhi)
Photo taken on Jan. 11, 2013 shows the landslide site at the Gaopo Village of Zhenxiong County, southwest China's Yunnan Province. More than 10 local residential houses with over 40 people were buried after a landslide happened here early Friday morning, according to the local officials. Eight people have been confirmed dead by now. The rescue is still underway. (Xinhua/Wu Ruzhi)
The death toll from a landslide in southwest China's Yunnan Province on Friday rose to eight as more bodies were retrieved from the debris, local authorities said.
The landslide occurred around 8:20 a.m. in the village of Gaopo in Zhenxiong County, some 550 km northeast of Yunnan's capital city of Kunming, sources with the county government confirmed.
The homes of 16 families in the village have been buried in the landslide, a local government official surnamed Wang told Xinhua.
About 40 people are believed to have been buried in the landslide, according to an initial investigation.
The local government has sent more than 300 rescuers to the scene. Rescue efforts are under way.
Zhenxiong County is adjacent to Yiliang County, where 19 people, including 18 primary school students, were killed in a landslide in October.
In September, a series of earthquakes -- with the strongest measured at 5.7 magnitude -- struck the region, leaving at least 81 people dead in Yiliang.
Geological experts said continuous rain, geological conditions and earthquakes jointly triggered last year's landslide.
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