Death toll rises to 20 in southwest China landslide

The death toll has risen to 20, as of Friday morning, after a landslide hit Shuicheng County of southwest China's Guizhou Province three days ago, and rescue work is still underway.

The landslide struck Pingdi Village at about 21:20 on Tuesday, burying 21 houses with more than two million cubic meters of mud rolling down from the peak of the nearby mountain to its foot, some 500 meters below.

As of 08:00 Friday, 20 people have been found dead, up five from the day before. The newly-discovered bodies include two children, a woman, a nursing mother and her son.

China's ministries of finance and emergency management on Wednesday allocated 30 million yuan (about 4.35 million US dollars) of disaster relief funds for the Guizhou Province. The funds will be used to support the search, rescue and relocation of victims, as well as other disaster relief work.

Officials also organized a joint working group at the accident site to direct the rescue work. So far more than 900 rescuers have been involved in the operation, with the help of sniffer dogs, life detectors and other equipment.

To ensure the safety of rescue workers, advanced radar warning systems are used to predict the future debris flow through laser scanning.

SS