China: Landslide Death Toll Reaches 41

Rescue teams in China have found 30 additional victims following a landslide in the southwest of the country earlier this month, according to authorities, raising the death toll to 41.

The landslide, which occurred on July 17 in Pengshui County, swept away residential buildings at the foot of a mountain and along a riverbank.

Footage broadcast by state-run CCTV showed a massive amount of rocks and debris covering part of a residential and commercial street at the foot of a mountain. Other footage showed people screaming and fleeing from a cloud of dust.

Rescue teams reported finding no signs of life while searching for 50 missing persons among the rubble, after authorities had announced on Friday a death toll of 11.

Provincial authorities stated on Tuesday night that “following DNA testing and identification of the bodies found at the site, it was confirmed that 30 additional victims had died,” raising the total number of casualties to 41.

This incident occurred less than two weeks after another landslide in Gansu Province in northwest China, which killed 21 people.