The death toll from a landslide in north China's Shanxi Province has risen to 41 as rescuers found 12 more bodies on Monday. Four people remain missing.

The bodies could not be identified as they had been buried for nearly two months.

A landslide toppled a waste dump at an iron mine on Aug.1, burying Sigou Village in Loufan County in the suburbs of the provincial capital Taiyuan.

About 6,500 rescuers with digging equipment had been searching for the missing for days, according to Jing Dekui, deputy head of the county.

The exact number of people trapped was still unknown because most were migrants and not registered at the public security bureau.

But so far no other people have been reported missing except the four.

The government had offered 9.87 million yuan (1.44 million U.S. dollars) in total compensation to the 45 families of the victims and 4.36 million yuan to other households suffering economic losses as a result of the tragedy.

A team sent by the State Council, China's Cabinet, was investigating the landslide disaster, which had initially been played down by local authorities.

(Xinhua News Agency September 30, 2008)