China mudslide death toll rises, hundreds may be missing

BEIJING, Sept 9 (Reuters) - The death toll from a mud and rock slide in northern China has climed to 34, state media said on Tuesday, but hundreds may be missing after the slip which triggered the collapse of a warehouse filled with mine waste.

Monday's landslide, caused by torrential rain, injured 35 people. More than 1,100 police, fire fighters and villagers were hunting for survivors in the rubble, the official Xinhua news agency said. State radio added in a report on its website that "several hundred" were missing, though it did not provide any additional information. Xinhua said the number of people missing had yet to be determined.

Top government officials have rushed to the Tashan mine, which is in northern Shanxi province, to direct rescue efforts.

"The mud-rock flow also destroyed a three-story office building, a market and some villagers' houses in the valley," Xinhua said. "Witnesses said the flow roared down the valley and washed away the market and the houses in a few minutes."

Police have detained the mine owner and eight others, it added.

China's mining industry is the world's deadliest, killing nearly 3,800 people last year. Most are coal miners who die in flooding or explosions underground. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Nick Macfie)