The death toll in the landslide in central China's Hubei Province last month rose to 35, rescuers said Tuesday after searching operation finished.
Among the victims, three were road maintenance workers and 32 were passengers onboard a bus, which was buried in the landslide while passing near a rail tunnel in Badong county, Enshi Prefecture on November 20, the rescue headquarters said in a press conference here.
Another worker at the site suffered slight injuries.
The landslide triggered an avalanche of about 3,000 cubic meters of rubble that engulfed a nearby construction site and the long-distance bus running on State Highway 318 underneath the tunnel.
More than 740 rescuers have been working at the site over the past two weeks, clearing up 3,850 cubic meters of debris and 514 tons of steel and iron framework.
Most of the victims have been identified and each family will get compensation of between 200,000 yuan to 360,000 yuan (about 48,700 U.S. dollars).
Workers will soon start to repair the tunnel and the 318 state highway, which links Shanghai to Tibet. The highway is expected to reopen to traffic on December 13 after roadside mountains have been reinforced.
An investigation team sent by the State Council on November 25 has been trying to find out the causes of the landslide.
The site of the accident is about four hours' drive to the Three Gorges Dam, the world's largest hydropower project, but there is no evidence at present to suggest that the landslide had been caused by work at the dam or its reservoir.
Source: Xinhua
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