China earthquake death toll over 400

More than 400 people have died in an earthquake that devastated a Chinese village, officials said Tuesday, August 5, as relatives faced the stark probability that rescuers would only find the remains of their loved ones. The death toll had risen to 410, authorities in the southwestern province of Yunnan said in a statement, as concerns mounted over a barrier lake formed by a landslide blocking a river in the disaster zone. The makeshift dam could burst within days, potentially flooding the already devastated area. The magnitude 6.1 tremor destroyed 80,000 houses and seriously damaged 124,000 more, wrecking the once-idyllic mountainside village of Longtoushan.

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