Thirty-four construction workers are missing after the landslide buried the temporary shelter. / AFP PHOTO /
BEIJING , China (AFP) — The number of bodies recovered from a landslide that engulfed workers at a Chinese construction site rose to 26 on Monday with 13 people still missing, authorities said.
Heavy rain at the weekend buried a temporary shed used by workers at a hydro power station construction site in Fujian province, in the southeast, under 100,000 cubic meters of mud and rock, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
Major rescue efforts were continuing, it said.
The Taining county government said on its website the toll figures were as of Monday afternoon.
The total number of victims was revised down after two people previously listed as missing were found alive and safe, Xinhua added.
President Xi Jinping has urged “maximum efforts” to find survivors, and more than 400 rescuers have been mobilized, Xinhua said, but continued rain has hampered operations.
Deadly landslides are common in China.
At least 58 people were killed by a landslide in the southern commercial hub of Shenzhen in December, caused by the improper storage of waste, with some 25 still unaccounted for.
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