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At least 59 people were killed Friday in a massive landslide in a remote mining area of southwest China, officials said.
A section of a mountain in Wulong county in Chongqing municipality collapsed onto an iron ore mine and six houses, cutting power and telephone lines in a large area, according to a report posted on the Chongqing government website.
Fifty mine workers as well as nine residents were buried under the rock and earth, the report said.
"Fifty-nine is only a preliminary estimate," said an official from the county's Tiekuang township, who would only give his surname Zhang.
"Telephone communications have been cut, and there is no mobile phone signal," Zhang told AFP by phone.