As of 9:15 p.m., a total of 17 bodies have been recovered since the landslide occurred two and a half days ago in Maizhokunggar County, about 68 km from regional capital Lhasa. Another 66 miners remain missing.
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In two locations near the area where the new bodies were found, rescuers retrieved articles such as tents, clothes and kitchen knives, according to rescuers.
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That has led them to believe more miners might be buried under debris at these two locations.
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The disaster struck a workers' camp of the Jiama Copper Polymetallic Mine at about 6 am on Friday, burying 83 workers and 11 machineries from Tibet Huatailong Mining Development Co. Ltd. The company is a subsidiary of China National Gold Group Corporation, the country's largest gold producer.
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"Large swathes of rocks suddenly fell down from the mountaintop and the huge sound shook the whole valley. It was a terrible scene," remembered a villager living nearby.
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Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang on Friday ordered exhaustive efforts to rescue the buried workers
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On Saturday, rescuers managed to recover two bodies in the same area, as the huge amount of debris, 4,600-meter altitude and snowy weather hampered rescue efforts. The survival chances of the missing miners are believed slim.Â