Society

Death toll from SW China mudslides rises to 37

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-08-24 21:36

GONGSHAN, Yunnan - The death toll from the mudslides in a remote mountain township in Southwest China's Yunnan province has risen to 37, with 55 others still missing as of 6:00 pm Tuesday, said Hou Xinrong, police chief of Gongshan county.

A car crosses a newly-built bridge in Gongshan county, Southwest China's Yunnan province, Aug 24, 2010. [Photo/Xinhua]

Hou told Xinhua that five bodies were recovered Tuesday - four under mudslide debris and one at the riverside of the swollen Nujiang River.

A newly-built bridge into and out of the disaster-hit area completed Tuesday and vehicles can cross it already, Hou said.

The mudslides stuck Puladi township in Gongshan at about 1:30 am Wednesday last week, burying villages under a deep sludge of mud.