TAIYUAN, Dec.3 (Xinhua) -- Reconstruction had started on the debris of a north China landslide that killed 277 and the large-scale search for the victims has stopped, local authorities said on Wednesday.

    "After nearly three months of rescue and search on an area of 40 hectares, we have decided to start digging up the wasteland for farming," said Su Jiabang, head of reconstruction headquarters.

    The collapse of an unlicensed iron ore dregs retaining pond triggered a massive landslide on September 8 in Xiangfen county ofthe coal-rich Shanxi Province. The torrent of mud and mining waste buried an outdoor market near a village of more than 1,000 residents.

    Rescuers have recovered 277 bodies from the mud and identified 266 of them by Wednesday. Another four were still missing. The 14 injured treated in the hospital were recovering, Su said.

    The investigation found the collapse was due to negligence. The tailings dumping pond was built in violation of regulations and had few safety inspections.

    The disaster caused Meng Xuenong, the governor of Shanxi, to resign. A total of 22 local officials were arrested and would be prosecuted on charges of graft and dereliction of duty, said Wang Dexue, deputy director of the State Administration of Work Safety who heads the investigation panel on the disaster.

Death toll in north China landslide rises to 259

Rescue workers work on the ruins at the key spot of the mud-rock flow in Xiangfen County, Linfen City, north China's Shanxi Province, Sept. 15, 2008.(Xinhua/Yan Yan) Photo Gallery>>>

  
    XIANGFEN, Shanxi, Sept. 16 (Xinhua) -- Rescuers retrieved one more body from a landslide in north China on Tuesday afternoon, pushing the death toll in the Sept. 8 tragedy to 259. Full story

County officials detained for fatal landslide in N China 

    XIANGFEN, Shanxi Province, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- Three county officials of Xiangfen county in north China's Shanxi Province, where 267 people were killed in a massive landslide, were detained for power abuse and dereliction, confirmed local authorities on Wednesday. Full story


Central gov't investigates deadly N China landslide

   LOUFAN, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- The State Council, China's Cabinet, has launched an investigation into a landslide that killed 44 people in the northern Shanxi Province in August.

   Human errors were to blame for the landslide, which toppled a waste dump of a local iron mine and buried Sigou Village of Loufan County in the suburbs of the provincial capital Taiyuan on Aug. 1,said State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS) deputy director Wang Dexue. Full story

Chinese State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS) deputy director Wang Dexue speaks at the inauguration meeting of a team to investigate the landslide occurred in August in Loufan, north China's Shanxi Province, on Oct. 6, 2008. The State Council, China's Cabinet, launched an investigation into a landslide that killed 44 people in the northern Shanxi Province in August in Loufan, north China's Shanxi Province. Wang is heading the team. (Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

Officials, managers from China's fatal landslide detained 

   LOUFAN, Oct. 25 (Xinhua) -- Six officials and managers, allegedly responsible for a fatal landslide in north Shanxi Province in August, have been detained by police, a spokesman from the investigation team said on Saturday. Full story