Southwest China landslide death toll rises to 51 as search and rescue continues

The death toll from a landslide in Chongqing province, southwest China, earlier this month rose to 51, with 10 people still missing, local authorities said late on Thursday night.The landslide, which occurred two weeks ago in Pengshui county, swept away several residential buildings at the foot of a mountain along a riverbank.Chongqing landslide traps dozensQuoting the command centre of the rescue effort, state-run news agency Xinhua said that 51 people had been found and confirmed dead, while 10 were still missing.Drone footage showed rescuers confronted by a massive pile of rocks and mud that had crashed into a residential and commercial street, with the debris covering a few hundred metres.According to a statement by Pengshui officials, 10 people have been rescued so far and more than 1,100 were safely evacuated.Despite rescuers warning last week that there were no longer signs of life in the area, the massive search and recovery operation has continued since the disaster struck on July 17, involving more than 1,080 rescuers and 2,300 sets of equipment, the statement said.