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Update | 85 still missing as rescuers search for survivors after massive Shenzhen landslide

More than 30 buildings damaged or destroyed in landslip on Sunday morning. People in the area blame dumping of construction waste at a huge tip

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Rescuers work into the night at the site of the landslide. Photo: Xinhua
Zhuang Pinghuiin Beijing

Rescue workers were searching for survivors on Monday after a massive landslide struck an industrial estate in Shenzhen in southern China.

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In all, 85 people are still unaccounted for, according to official figures released on Monday. 

More than 30 buildings were destroyed or damaged after the huge landslip on Sunday morning. 

UPDATE: Shenzhen landslide waste dump had been ordered to close over safety fears, documents reveal

The landslide covered more than 100,000 square metres at the Hengtaiyu Industrial Park in the Guangming New District.

A nearby section of the arterial West-East Gas Pipeline also exploded, state-run China Central Television reported.

The Ministry of Land and Natural Resources said the landslide happened after a dump of earth and construction rubbish, as high as a 20 storey-building, collapsed. The dump was too large and the slopes to steep, making it unstable, the ministry said. 

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Shenzhen landslide - in pictures

Firefighters from Shenzhen and elsewhere in Guangdong province have been sifting through rubble covering an area about the size of 14 football pitches.

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