The fate of the 24 farmers is still unknown, Xinhua news agency quoted local officials as saying. The farmers, 12 men and 12 women, were buried after some 650,000 cubic meters of loess, a fine wind-blown dust, sank Monday night in Qiaonan village of Jixian county.
Sixteen local residents survived the catastrophe which engulfed 11 houses. Experts said the cave-in was a typical natural geological disaster, measuring 250 meters in length and 80 meters in height.
Survivors have been relocated to safe areas, and rescue efforts are going on while more than 20 bulldozers and trucks are working at the site of the disaster, the report said.
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