THE death toll from the landslide in Southwest China's Guizhou Province had climbed to 39 by December 8, and five other villagers remained missing.

　　The disaster occurred at 3:40 am on December 3 in Zuojiaying Village, over 100 kilometres west of the provincial capital Guiyang.

　　A mass of earth and rock measuring 20,000 cubic metres crashed down on 19 houses.

　　"The heaviest stones hitting the houses weighed more than 100 tons, so the chance of survival for people buried under them is slim," the Beijing News quoted local police official Zhao Yujie as saying.

　　The five missing included one adult and four children. The youngest was a baby no more than one year old.

　　Thirteen people injured in the slide are now in stable conditions. Their medical fees have been covered by the local government.

　　Geological experts said the disaster was due to natural causes. However, local villagers suspected it had something to do with the two coal mine pits at the foot of the mountain.

　　"The coal pits have hollowed the mountain out, that's why the disaster happened," one villager was quoted as saying.

　　Guo Qiang, a local geological official denied it, saying that the cracks in the rocks were old, and no artificial factors were found in the cracking.

　　"But we have issued orders stopping work at all the local coal mines," he said.

　　Rescue work is continuing but it is becoming more difficult to clear the site with the increasing accumulation of rock and soil. The temperature in the area has dropped below 3 degrees Celsius recently.

　　To help resettle some 158 disaster-affected families, the central government has allocated 2 million yuan (US$240,000) to Guizhou for emergency supplies and reconstruction. The provincial authority in charge of civil affairs also allocated 1 million yuan (US$120,000) to respond to the aftermath of the emergency. Donations from out of Guizhou reached 2 million yuan, but more is needed.

　　Guan Xiaonong, head of Nayong County where the tragedy took place, said most of the victims may have to spend the next three months - the harshest season of the year - in tents before a new village is constructed. But he promised the government would do everything to ensure food and coal for them.

　　The families of those killed in the disaster will receive 8,000 yuan (US$963) each to cover burial expenses. Further assistance is still under discussion. (Star News)