Landslip buries Chinese villagers

Rescuers in China's northern province of Shanxi are battling to reach 24 people buried alive when a landslide engulfed their homes.

Rescuers using bulldozers and trucks have been digging through thousands of tons of earth to reach the trapped residents. Local officials say it is going to take time to find the victims.

They refused to speculate on their chances, although 16 survivors were earlier pulled alive from the site.

A BBC correspondent in China, Francis Markus, says disasters like this are not that unusual. But the geology of the region is being increasingly hit by erosion and this appears to be one of the worst accidents of its kind.