Landslide in hilly south China kills at least 44

BEIJING (AP) — The death toll from a landslide that swept through a village in the steep, snow-dusted mountains of southern China on Friday has risen to at least 44, state media reported Saturday.

The landslide smothered 14 homes in Zhaojiagou village in Yunnan province, burying 46 people, China News reported. It said two people were still missing.

A preliminary investigation blames saturation from more than 10 days of rain and snow for the disaster, said the local county government of Zhenxiong in a statement posted on its official website.

Photos posted on the website of the Yunnan Daily, the official newspaper of the provincial government, showed rescue crews in orange jumpsuits using construction machinery to sift through massive piles of mud and earth. Behind them stood hillsides and pine trees covered in snow, signs of the unusually cold winter that has hit all of China.

Mudslides occur periodically in the region, which is prone to earthquakes and heavy rains. In a nearby county, 81 people died after an earthquake in September. A month later, a landslide buried a primary school, leaving 18 students and one other person dead.