Landslide Buries 18 Chinese Schoolchildren

Had been making up class time lost due to recent earthquake

A landslide buried 18 Chinese elementary school students studying during a public holiday Thursday to make up for classes disrupted by recent earthquakes in southwest China, state media reported.

An additional village resident was buried in a house, state news agency Xinhua said, bringing the toll of those the earth had covered to 19. A family of three managed to flee before the landslide hit.

Rescuers have so far recovered the bodies of five students as they scour through rubble at a village in Yunnan province after the landslide struck the school and two houses, state broadcaster CCTV reported.