The death toll from a landslide in southwestern China has risen to 40, a state-run news agency reported Wednesday.
China's official Xinhua News Agency said five more bodies have been recovered in hard-hit Chuxiong prefecture in Yunnan province.
It said hundreds of soldiers, police and medical staff have been dispatched, and the government has sent rice and clothes to the victims. Forty-three people are still missing and 10 are injured.
More than 60,000 people have been evacuated since Tuesday after 10 days of heavy rain caused landslides and mud-rock flows. More than 1 million people have been affected in nine cities, including the provincial capital Kunming where four people died.
More than 1,000 houses collapsed and another 2,300 were damaged in the disaster, the report said.
Crops, power supply, telecommunication and transportation were also affected.
The first batch of relief goods, such as tents, quilts and clothes, were being sent to the affected areas, Xinhua said, citing the Red Cross Society of China.
The local government was also sending rice, clothes and other necessary materials. Soldiers, police officers, local government officials and medical staff were also helping those affected
