Rescuers had recovered the remains of eight people buried in a landslide in the suburbs of Taiyuan, the provincial capital of Shanxi Province, by 5 p.m. on Sunday.

The rescue headquarters immediately had the corpses disinfected before sending them to a funeral house. Local police are working to identify the victims, according to authorities in Loufan, a suburban county of Taiyuan.

A landslide happened in the early hours of Friday at Sigou Village in Loufan County. The village is inside the mining area of Jianshan Iron Mine operated by Taiyuan Iron and Steel (Group) Company Ltd.

An initial investigation showed seven houses and 11 villagers were buried. The exact number of the trapped, however, is still being checked as there were people from other areas living in the village.

Life detector have been used in the rescue efforts. The rescuers are going all out to carry out rescue operation at guidance of a professionals panel as the terrain with the landslide is unstable.

Local weather department was told to pay close attention to weather changes and give warnings in time to prevent secondary disasters.

The cause of the landslide is under further investigation.

(Xinhua News Agency August 4, 2008)