Chinese village buried by mudslide

KUNMING, China, Sept. 2 (UPI) -- Rescuers continued to search Thursday for residents of a village in southwest China after a landslide killed at least 10 people.

Thirty-eight people were still missing, Xinhua, the official government news agency, reported.

Wama, a hamlet on the Nujiang Rivr in Yunnan province, was buried under mud and rocks at 10:20 p.m. Wednesday, officials said. More than 70 people were trapped in their homes.

The village is vulnerable to landslides because of its position between the river and steep mountain slopes, Xinhua said. The danger this year is high because of the combination of drought in 2009 followed by one of the wettest summers ever.

Provincial officials dispatched a geological survey team to the site to report on the causes of the slide and steps that could be taken to prevent future disasters.

A mudslide in Gansu province in Northwest China killed more than 1,200 people in August.