The official toll remained 72 missing, Chongqing municipal spokesman Ai Yang said of the Friday landslide that buried several homes and an iron ore mine in the mountainous region.

"We still are holding out hope for those miners trapped underground, but there are only faint hopes for those buried under rubble," government spokesman Ai Yang said.

"Although so many were buried at ground level, life-monitoring sensors have not found any signs of life. As long as there are only slim hopes, we will make every effort both at ground level and underground to save survivors."

The government Saturday said 72 people were missing in the avalanche, while state radio said Saturday 26 people were confirmed dead.

Ai did not explain the discrepancy in the toll numbers.

State news agency Xinhua later reported that seven bodies had been recovered from the debris. The seven bodies, including five men and two women, had yet to be identified, Xinhua reported.

Sunday's rescue efforts focused on the iron ore mine where 27 miners were working when up to 12 million cubic metres (420 million cubic feet) of boulders and rock crashed down from Wulong mountain, he said.

"Rescuing the trapped miners will remain the focus of operations," Ai said, according to transcripts of the news conference posted on a Chongqing government website.

With homes also buried, there were fears the rescue work might be slowed by rains that are forecast over the next several days, state radio said.

The massive slide also dammed up the Wujiang river, leading to fears that rising waters on an landslide-formed lake would lead to a burst of the dam, flooding communities below, it added.

An investigation has begun into the cause of the disaster, which also cut power lines and communications in several areas.

Up to 1,500 soldiers, police, firemen and volunteers with dogs and large earth moving equipment were scouring the rock, mud and debris for survivors, the Voice of China radio station said.

Experts were trying to blast away the boulders to get to the mine and were also planning to drill a 40-metre (132-foot) hole to pipe in air, water and food to the trapped miners.

Later Sunday, a helicopter was brought in to airlift heavy machinery into the area as roads into the mountainous areas were blocked due to the rock fall, the China News Service reported.

In September last year, at least 277 people were killed in a landslide in the northern province of Shanxi when a reservoir holding mine waste collapsed.

Government investigations found the collapse at the unlicensed mine was due to negligence and 113 people were punished in connection with the disaster, state media reported in April.

China's mining industry is one of the most dangerous in the world.

Official figures show that more than 3,200 workers died in China's notoriously dangerous coal mines last year, but independent observers say the actual figure could be much higher, as many accidents are covered up.

earlier related report
Hundreds of rescue workers and volunteers were Saturday searching for dozens of people feared buried alive when part of a mountain collapsed in a massive landslide in southwest China, officials said.

Seventy-four people were missing after the disaster struck Friday afternoon in an iron ore mining district of the vast Chongqing municipality, a Chongqing government spokesman told a televised news conference.

The figure included 47 miners and 21 local residents. The others were four passers-by and two employees from a telecoms company, spokesman Ai Yang said.

Local officials had earlier told AFP 78 were missing.

Vice-Premier Zhang Dejiang arrived at the site early Saturday to supervise the rescue effort and comfort relatives of the victims, television images showed.

Eight people have been rescued from the debris, with three seriously injured and one of those in a critical condition, local officials said. They were all taken to hospital.

The landslide occurred in the remote mountainous region of Jiwei in Wulong district. More than 3.5 million tonnes of mud and rock crashed hundreds of metres down into the valley, burying houses and a working mine, according to estimates quoted by the authorities.

Twenty-seven miners were working in the mine at the time of the landslide. Emergency workers were hopeful of rescuing all the miners, unlike victims who were on the surface, who were hit by the debris.

"The important task now is to save the 27 miners," Ai said.

Around 1,500 people have joined the rescue effort, including volunteers, professional rescue workers and security forces with dogs, to search through the confusion of mud, rocks and debris for more survivors.

Around 500 rescue workers were dispatched from neighbouring districts to help 400 firefighters, police and other personnel, particularly medical staff, deployed by authorities, according to the local communications department.

The authorities were also concerned about the threat of flooding in the region after the landslide blocked the Wujiang, a tributary of the Yangtze, the official Xinhua news agency said.

An investigation has begun into the cause of the disaster, which also cut power lines and communications in several areas.

In September last year, at least 277 people were killed in a landslide in the northern province of Shanxi when a reservoir holding mine waste collapsed.

Government investigations found the collapse at the unlicensed mine was due to negligence and 113 people were punished in connection with the disaster, state media reported in April.

China's mining industry is one of the most dangerous in the world. In the latest accident, seven miners were killed in a gas leak at a mine in northwest Xinjiang region, Xinhua said Saturday.

Official figures show that more than 3,200 workers died in China's notoriously dangerous coal mines last year, but independent observers say the actual figure could be much higher, as many accidents are covered up.

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