The bodies of three additional victims have been pulled from an iron ore mine that was buried by a mudslide in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region on Tuesday, bringing the death toll to 21 thus far.

Seven people remain missing in the mine, according to Xue Weichang, deputy secretary of the Communist Party of China committee of Xinyuan county.

The fatal mudslide, which occurred at 12:30 AM Tuesday in the township of Araltobe, Xinyuan county in the Kazak autonomous prefecture of Ili, trapping 28 workers in the mine.

More than 500 rescuers are working to carry out search and rescue operations.

A survey conducted by the local land resource authorities found that the disaster was a result of downpours that hit Xinyuan on Sunday.

The local meteorological department said heavy rains will continue to pound the region from Aug 2 to 4.

Source - Xinhua

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