A rain-triggered landslide hit a mountain-side brickworks in northwest China on Saturday, leaving at least three workers dead and about a dozen others missing, officials said. The landslide roared down the mountain at about 2 p.m. Saturday and engulfed the brick factory located 300 meters away in a suburban district of Xi'an City, the capital of Shaanxi Province, officials said. A villager from the nearby village of Maoxi said people in the workshop and the dormitory who were unable to escape were buried. The factory's chimney was also toppled by the landslide. More than 700 police, firefighters, and local residents have joined the rescue. Dozens of excavators and ambulances were also mobilized, officials said. But the rescue become more difficult as the night fell and heavy rain continued, they added. Torrential rains have been pounding nearly 60 of Shaanxi's counties since September 4, triggering mountain torrents and landslides, the provincial civil affairs department said Saturday. Persistent rains have killed nine people and forced 47,200 to evacuate their homes, Xinhua reported.
