More than 20 workers buried in China landslide
By Associated Press
May 9, 2011 5:09 AM CDT

A landslide buried more than 20 workers in a makeshift dormitory at a quarry Monday in southern China where heavy rain fell over the weekend, state media reported.

There was no immediate word on deaths or injuries resulting from the disaster in the village of Luojiang near the resort city of Guilin. Police and rescuers equipped with a pair of excavators were searching for survivors, the Xinhua News Agency said.

Local officials reached by telephone said they had no information about progress in the rescue work.

The landslide hit the quarry at around 1:30 p.m. (0530 GMT), burying the dormitory in a pile of sludge the length of a football field, Xinhua said.

That followed heavy rains over the weekend across the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region where the village is located, roughly 1,080 miles (1,750 kilometers) south of Beijing amid steep hills and thick jungle bordering Vietnam.

Torrential rain that began falling on Saturday night forced the evacuation of 70 residents from a nearby village and stranded scores of travelers, Xinhua said. Rain had stopped by Monday, although roads were flooded and hillsides were saturated, Xinhua said.