Death toll reaches 38 in China landslides

BEIJING - The death toll in rain-triggered landslides in south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region climbed to 38 Thursday even as search operations continued for missing villagers, authorities said.

In Rongxian County, the death toll reached 23 after eight more bodies were recovered Wednesday night, the county’s emergency rescue office said Thursday. It said rescuers were still searching for 14 villagers.

At least 2,800 people were evacuated after their homes were destroyed by landslides, Xinhua reported.

Rongxian was one of the worst-hit counties.

Heavy rains began pounding Guangxi Monday and triggered landslides early Wednesday.

In Cenxi County, 12 people were confirmed dead as of Wednesday night, while three more deaths were reported in Tengxian County, Donglan County and Fangchenggang City.

Across Guangxi, the rainstorms had battered 27 counties and nearly 80,000 people had been evacuated as of Wednesday night, the local government said.