The death toll from Friday’s landslide triggered by severe rains in southern Myanmar has risen to 51, rescue authorities said on Sunday.
Eighteen more bodies were recovered overnight and into Sunday at the site of the landslide in Mon State, according to an updated report from the country’s Fire Services Department. Search and rescue efforts are still ongoing.
A total of 42 people suffered various degrees of injuries, earlier reports said.
The landslide occurred Friday morning when a large part of a mountain slope collapsed in Thanphyu-gone village of Paung Township following several days of torrential rain.
A Buddhist monastery, 25 houses, and four trucks and a family sedan at the base of the mountain were buried or swept away, reports said.
Most of the vehicles were traveling on a major highway that was in the path of the deluge of soil and debris.
Most parts of Mon State and adjacent states in southern Myanmar have for days been hit by heavy rain influenced by a tropical depression in the Bay of Bengal, causing widespread flooding.
Heavy monsoon rains in recent weeks have displaced tens of thousands of people in southern Myanmar.
