BEIJING, Sept. 11 -- Rescuers shoveled and hammered into debris yesterday searching for survivors buried under sludge, mud and mining waste in northern China after a landslide that killed at least 128 people.

    Hope of finding anybody alive was fading as the evening progressed, however.

    The landslide that plowed into houses on Monday in a valley in Shanxi Province's Xiangfen County also injured 35 and trapped an unknown number of people under the rubble, local officials said.

    A low-rise office building, a market and some houses were knocked down by the rapid surge of mud and mining waste from the Tashan mine, forming a wall measuring three stories high and 600 meters wide.

    The landslide occurred in the morning just as business at the busy outdoor market was getting under way with shoppers haggling at roadside stalls for food and daily necessities.

    More than 100 people from a mine company were holding their weekly meeting in the office building.

    A relative of one of the company's employees told Shanghai Morning Post that only three of those at the meeting were believed to have survived.

    More than 100 people kept vigil behind a security cordon yesterday, waiting anxiously for news of their loved ones, but local officials acknowledged that the chances of finding survivors were slim.

    "There were survivors on the first day and on the second day, but from day three, it's very likely that anyone we find in the future will be dead already," said Dong Fengyi who heads the publicity department of Xiangfen County.

    She said that more than 2,000 police, firefighters and villagers were mobilized in the search, but conditions were difficult.

    "There is mud everywhere," said Dong, who was speaking from the site where excavators and front loaders were lifting earth and debris. "It is very hard for the machines to drive through the mud."

    Also hampering rescue efforts were the rough terrain, poor telecommunications and heavy rainfall, which came to a halt only yesterday.

    Teams of officials were registering names of people who local residents and migrant workers said were missing, she said, as authorities tried to determine how many people were still trapped in the rubble.

    The accident was caused mainly by the illegal operation of the unlicensed mine, poor management and neglect of safety practices, said Liu Zhijie, the rescue headquarters chief and mayor of Linfen City.

    President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao have urged an all-out rescue effort and ordered a thorough investigation into the cause of the accident.

    Those responsible should be dealt with, and the nation should learn from the tragedy to enhance production safety, they said.

    (Source: Shanghai Daily)