Five people have been killed and 12 others are trapped after a landslide in northern China.A landslide at a village in northwestern China buried 33 people on Tuesday, state media reported. About half of them have been rescued.
Local authorities said the landslide occurred in the Nanhe township of Longnan city in Gansu province shortly before 7 am, according to China's official Xinhua News Agency
State broadcaster CCTV said 17 people were already rescued, but it did not elaborate on their condition.While rescue operations were underway, authorities relocated affected residents. It was unclear what caused the landslide.
Rescuers were deployed to the scene in Gansu province at 7am local time on Tuesday, where 33 people were initially trapped in a valley in Tanchang county.
They had found 21 people by the afternoon, but five subsequently died despite receiving emergency treatment.
Most of those affected were residents from nearby villages hired as temporary workers at a state-run forestry farm.Local authorities have relocated other residents as they continue the rescue operation.
The cause of the landslide has yet to be determined, but the mountainous region is prone to natural disasters - particularly during the rainy season.
A disastrous 2008 earthquake in the neighbouring Sichuan province killed over 69,000 people, and partly destabilised geological conditions in the region.