Chinese landslide death toll reaches 62
The death toll in a landslide that wrecked an apartment building in south-western China has risen to 62, the official Xinhua News Agency said today.
Only seven people out of 25 families in the building are known to have escaped the disaster on Tuesday evening in the city of Chongqing, Xinhua said.
Hundreds of police and soldiers had cleared away about two-thirds of the rubble by late Tuesday evening and unearthed 62 bodies, it said. There was no indication of anyone found alive in the wreckage.
Xinhua said the slide was probably triggered by rain that loosened the earth.
Local officials contacted by telephone refused to provide any details.
China has suffered a fatal series of building collapses and other disasters blamed on poor construction standards and lax enforcement of safety rules.
