31 dead, 7 missing after east China landslide

TAINING, May 9, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Rescuers search for signs of life at the landslide site in Taining County, southeast China's Fujian Province, May 9, 2016.

TAINING, Fujian, May 9 (Xinhua) -- The death toll has risen to 31 with seven people still missing after a landslide in Taining County in east China's Fujian Province on Sunday, local authorities said Monday afternoon.

As of 4 p.m., 31 bodies had been retrieved at the scene and one person on the missing list had been found alive, the rescue headquarters said.

The landslide occurred at about 5 a.m. on Sunday in Taining County, when about 100,000 cubic meters of mud and rocks flowed downhill, burying a temporary shed at a hydropower station construction site and damaging its offices.

Rescue work is ongoing despite persistent rain.