Authorities were racing against time to save the 76 missing people after a massive landslide hit China's manufacturing hub of Shenzen, even as the first body was pulled out of tonnes of mud today amid mounting anger among relatives over the slow pace of rescue efforts.
The body recovered this morning was the first confirmed death, with the chance of finding survivors decreasing by the hour.
The number of missing people has dropped to 76 from 91, as some who were previously reported missing have been contacted, Vice Mayor Liu Qingsheng said.
Those who remain missing include 51 males and 25 females, said Liu at a press conference.
More than 4,000 rescuers have joined the rescue efforts as of today morning, he said.
Sixteen locations where buildings were buried have been listed as key excavation areas, Liu said.
The name list of the missing was made public today.
Yao Yingzheng, a firefighter who participated in pulling out the first victim, said, "We detected vital signs several times, but our utmost efforts were in vain. We felt disheartened when doctors claimed him dead."
The landslide hit an industrial park on Sunday after the collapse of a huge pile of construction waste from a hill in Shenzhen, burying or damaging 33 buildings.
Some 900 people were evacuated.
Sixteen people were hospitalised, all with minor injuries, said the Guangdong provincial health authority.
Using life detectors, excavators and drones about 3,000 rescue workers are carefully digging through the nearly five story mud pile stretching up to 10 football fields for survivors.
The rescue work was reportedly suspended to verify potential danger of a secondary disaster after staff from China National Petroleum Corporation cleared the remaining natural gas in the nearby pipelines overnight.
The landslide resulted in explosion of a gas station in the area on Sunday.
Chinese Ministry of Land and Resources which is investigating the devastating landslide said it was caused by an overload of soil and debris from construction sites.
The ministry said large amount of soil and waste from the Hongao construction site was dumped there.
The risk of landslides has existed since the opening of the dump, which was originally a quarry. Plants were badly damaged in the exploitation of the land, leading to serious soil erosion, a report released in January by Shenzhen Zongxing Technology on the field's environmental effects said.
