By IANS,
Beijing : At least 12 people were killed while 22 were missing in rain-triggered landslides in a northwestern Chinese province, officials said.
The landslides began Saturday afternoon. Rock and mud from mountains engulfed a brick factory and damaged a ceramics factory in Xi’an, capital of Shaanxi province, Xinhua reported.
Till Sunday evening, rescuers had retrieved 10 bodies from beneath the rocks and mud in Xi’an, said vice mayor Zhu Zhisheng.
Four bodies were found Saturday night and six were found Sunday.
Heavy rainfall triggered a landslide that buried a house in Baoji city, 175 km from Xi’an. Two people were dug out but later died in hospital, the government said in a statement.
More than 700 policemen and firefighters joined the rescue which was still going on Sunday night.
The province had been battered by torrential rains since Sep 4. Some 117,000 people have been relocated, the civil affairs department said.