Death Toll From Chinese Mudslide Rises

Chinese officials launched a top-level investigation into North Shanxi's devastating mud and rock slide as the death toll rose to 128 and hopes faded yesterday for those trapped beneath the flow.

State media initially blamed torrential rains for triggering the wall of sludge that obliterated buildings around a mine in Xiangfen, Linfen city, on Monday.

But senior officials later said the disaster appeared to have been caused by the collapse of a waste reservoir at the Tashan iron ore mine.

"It was terrible. The mud roared down the valley and washed away the market and houses in a few minutes," Wei Guanghui, a migrant worker, told the China Daily newspaper.

Other witnesses told the state news agency Xinhua that the torrent was several meters high and destroyed a three-story office building.

An official at the propaganda department of Xiangfen county warned: "There were survivors on the first day and on the second day, but from day three, it's very likely that anyone we find in the future will be dead already."

Speaking from the site by telephone, she told the Associated Press news agency that more than 2,000 police, firefighters and villagers were mobilized in the search.

State radio has said that hundreds could be trapped beneath the thick layers of mud and debris, which covered a vast area thought to be up to two miles long. Many of the victims are believed to be migrant workers from south-west China, making it harder to know exactly who was there.

The People's Daily newspaper said the state council - China's cabinet - had launched an investigation. Nine people, including the mine owner, have been detained.

Xinhua said several officials, including the local head of the work safety bureau, had been sacked.

"Our preliminary investigation found that this accident was caused by illegal enterprises who discharged waste sand into a mine tailings dam," said Wang Dexue, deputy head of the state administration of work safety. "When the dam reached its capacity it burst. Heavy rain accelerated the process," he told state television.

"It's not because of the rain. It wasn't a natural disaster, it was man-made," said a worker named Zhang, who said his friend was probably dead.

China's mining industry is the world's deadliest, killing 3,800 people last year despite substantial safety improvements.