Two workers are dead and 26 missing after a rain-triggered landslide hit a worker's shed on July 31 at an iron mine in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, authorities said.

The accident happened at around 1 am at an iron mine, located in the Areletuobie township in Xinyuan county, in the Ili Kazak autonomous prefecture.

"Twenty-two miners, mainly from Yunnan and Fujian provinces, and six local herders were involved in the accident," said Yan Qing, a local government official.

About 370 policemen, firefighters and government officials participated in the rescue work, with 20 loaders and excavators and a life detector, Yan said.

As of July 31, two bodies had been retrieved from the site. Rescuers are still searching for the missing workers.