国内英语新闻:Rescuers struggling to search for 80 still missing in SW China deadly mudslides

Although wearing gauze masks, soldiers still could not help becoming occasionally ill.

"The rescuers are at risk of sinking into the mud any time," Yang said.

"The task is dangerous, but I am not feeling tired. Although the victims had a slim chance of survival, we'll spare no efforts to find their bodies for their beloved family members," said rescuer Cao Dashuai.

Yu Yongzhi, a 36-year-old foreman at the Yujin Iron Mine, which was leveled by the mudslides, has been busy searching for his fellow workers and comforting family members of the victims.

Yu survived the disaster but 12 of his fellow workers were instantly buried in front of him. "I introduced most of them into the mine. I am responsible for them and their families as well," Yu said.

"It's possible that my efforts won't bear any results. But if I fail to try my best, I won't live up to their family," he said.

The local government has set up two settlement centers in the township, accommodating hundreds of homeless villagers.

The mudslides, which occurred 8 km above the middle reaches of the Dongyuegu River, a tributary of the Nujiang River, brought down some 600,000 cubic meters of mud and rocks.

In Zhouqu County of northwestern Gansu Province, massive mudslides also triggered by torrential rains claimed 1,407 lives as of 4 p.m. Friday and 358 others remained missing.

China has been plagued this summer by the worst floods in at least a decade. This year's floods and other rain-triggered disasters have left at least 2,300 people dead and 1,200 missing nationwide.

In Sichuan Province, which neighbors Gansu, 16 people have been killed and 66 remain missing following this week's rain-triggered floods and mudslides.