Emergency checks at areas launched near landslide

The Ministry of Land and Resources announced Friday that emergency geological surveys have been launched in areas near a deadly landslide in southwest China's Yunnan Province.

It has also issued a second-level alert for geological disaster, a ministry spokesman said.

Experts sent by the ministry have started working with local forces Friday to check slopes, cliffs and valleys, especially areas with residents for hazards and evacuate locals from dangerous sites, according to the spokesman.

Meanwhile, the spokesman said that the experts are working with local authorities and experts to jointly investigate the landslide, which occurred at around 8:10 a.m. Thursday in the village of Zhenhe, Longhai Township of Yiliang County.

Nineteen people have been confirmed dead in the disaster, of whom 18 were primary school students who had been attending classes at the time of the landslide.

Despite an ongoing National Day holiday, the students were making up for the classes delayed by previous quakes, which hit Yiliang on Sept. 7, leaving 81 people dead and 800 others injured.