BEIJING: The death toll from a landslide in China's southwestern Guizhou Province rose to 19 while four others remained missing three days after the disaster that buried several houses in a village.
The authorities have recovered nineteen bodies so far while four persons remained missing after the landslide struck Yingping Village in Fuquan City on Wednesday night, toppling 77 houses and rendering several homeless.
Twenty-two people were also injured as half of a 600-metre-high knoll broke free and wiped out a majority of the village at the foot of the hill.
One of the injured has been discharged from hospital.
Rescuers continue to search for the missing persons while relief materials, including tents, water and food, have been dispatched for displaced villagers.
A 10-person team of experts is investigating the cause of the landslide.
The experts have identified three landslide-prone areas while 64 villagers of 17 households were evacuated yesterday afternoon.
The survivors are expected to move into new houses in three settlements next July, officials said.
Meanwhile, early this morning the village was again hit by a landslide but due to its evacuation there was no casualty, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.