At least 23 people have died in a landslide in northern China. The victims are migrant workers at a nearby coalmine and members of their families.

The landslide hit in Zhongyang county in the province of Shanxi, burying five homes. Two people were pulled out of the rubble alive soon after.

In September of last year, a mudslide triggered by damned up tailings from an iron ore mine killed over 250 people in the same province.

Shanxi, along with much of northern China, has been hit by unseasonably early and heavy snow with bitterly cold weather over the past few days.