Five people were killed and two injured after a landslide in southwest China's Yunnan Province on Sunday afternoon, a local official said.

The collapse occurred around 3:30 p.m. Sunday when around 20 residents in Dazaizi village in Ludian County, were digging stone at a hill to repair the village road, said the county's magistrate Shi Bangyun.

As of 7:30 p.m., the seven buried in the rubble had been retrieved, but five were confirmed dead. The other two injured were sent to hospital and had been out of critical condition.

The loosened hillside due to recent rainfall in the area was blamed for the collapse, according to Shi.

(Xinhua News Agency, March 10, 2008)