Rescuers work at the landslide site in Dazhai Village in Guanling County, in southwest China's Guizhou Province, on June 29, 2010. [Xinhua]

The death toll from a rain-triggered landslide in southwest China's Guizhou Province has risen to three after rescuers recovered another body Wednesday.

The body was retrieved at 9:05 a.m., said a spokesman of the rescue headquarters in a statement.

About 1,100 rescuers Wednesday resumed their search with excavators and sniffer dogs for the other 96 people still believed to be buried. The operation was suspended late Tuesday as it was hard to determine the risk of further landslides in the dark.

But hopes for the survival of the villagers were diminishing more than 40 hours after their homes were buried under a million cubic meters of mud.

"The landslide lasted only two minutes, and there was no warning. It was very difficult for the villagers to escape," said an official with the Guizhou Provincial Work Safety Bureau.

"The sound was much like thunder. When I looked back, the whole village had disappeared," said survivor Zhang Jin.

The landslide struck more than 30 homes in Dazhai Village, Gangwu Township of Anshun City's Guanling County, at 2:30 p.m. Monday.

The rescue headquarters corrected the number of buried villagers from 107 to 99 late Tuesday night after further checks. Some villagers were previously thought missing, but later found alive.

More than 1,000 nearby villagers had been evacuated and another 500 were waiting to be relocated, said the headquarters officials.

By 2 p.m. Tuesday, the provincial civil affairs department had sent 222 tents, 1,000 quilts, 150 beds and 2 tonnes of emergency food to evacuees.

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