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Five primary school students were killed while 13 others went missing after a huge landslide engulfed a primary school in China’s Yunnan Province today.
The landslide hit the village of Zhenhe, Yiliang County of Zhaotong City this morning, trapping 19, including the 18 students, the county government said.
The landslide, estimated to be around 160,000 cubic meters, engulfed a primary school Tiantou where 18 students attended a special class.
Five bodies were pulled out and one was seriously injured.
Rescuers are still looking for 13 others buried under the mud.
Two houses near the school were also hit by the landslide in which one adult remained buried in the rubble.
A family of three managed to escape the landslide before it arrived.
The landslide also blocked a nearby river, forming a barrier lake that is 15 meters wide and seven meters deep, Liu said.
The Government has relocated more than 800 residents living downstream to safer places and mobilised nearly 2,000 people to destroy the barrier lake and aid in rescue efforts, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
The area was hit by multiple earthquakes killing 81 people and injuring 800 others.
The students were attending a special session to make up for the classes that were delayed after the earthquakes last month, Liu said.
The students, who were buried, arrived at the school early to attend the special class, Liu said.
The rescuers are working to reach those who are still trapped by the landslide.
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