Landslide kills 6 after burying building in south China

BEIJING

Six people were killed in southern China when a landslide destroyed a two-story building in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

State news agency Xinhua reported its correspondents as seeing the structure, containing 15 households, and a pigpen covered in rocks and soil in Fude village.

Du'an Yao Autonomous County’s emergency response office had been informed before dawn about the incident, after which six bodies -- including that of the building’s owner -- were recovered by the afternoon.

Lan Min, a villager, told the agency that he had been asleep when he awoke to a loud noise that he initially thought were fireworks.

"But then I felt the house was shaking," he said. "I thought it was an earthquake and told my family to rush out."

He recalled how once they were outside, they saw that Lan Huajing's home had collapsed while stones had damaged a wall of their own residence.

Local sources also said the incident did not occur during rainfall.

An investigation has been launched by Hechi city authorities.