No casualties were reported when a landslide blocked a national highway in central China's Hubei province, local authorities said on Saturday.

The landslide occurred at around 10:30 p.m. on Friday in Yesanguan Town,Badong County, in Enshi Tujia, Miao Autonomous Prefecture, said Xiang Dingyong, leader of the traffic police team under the Public Security Bureau of Badong County

More than 2,000 cubic meters of rock and mud blocked a 50-meter section of the No. 318 National Highway that connects Shanghai and Tibet, stranding more than 1,000 vehicles, he said.

"All the stranded vehicles have been evacuated by Saturday," he said.

During the blockage, vehicles were forced to make a 30-minute detour more than 10 kilometers away.

Efforts to clear the highway were hindered by heavy rain that started on Friday. It was expected to continue until Wednesday, he said

"It needs a week to resume the traffic."

The hills in Yesanguan Town are fragile and have seen many landslides. A slide at the entrance of a rail tunnel of Yiwan Railway killed 31 on November 20.

(Xinhua News Agency April 13, 2008)