Rescuers try to move a block of mud and rocks at Wama Village of Longyang District in Baoshan City, southwest China's Yunnan Province, on Thursday, Sept. 2, 2010. [Photo: news.cn]

The death toll from mudslides that hit a village in southwest China's Yunnan Province late Wednesday has climbed to eight, and 40 people are still missing, local government said Thursday.

As of 2:30 p.m., rescuers had retrieved eight bodies and saved 23 people from the rubble of homes in Wama Village of Longyang District, the city government of Baoshan said in a press release.

It said the accident happened at about 10:20 p.m., trapping 71 people from 20 families.

Rescuers are still searching for the missing.

But rescue work was difficult amid moderate rain Thursday, a spokesman with the emergency rescue headquarters said.

"The local weather bureau has forecast showers almost every day in the coming week," he said.

The city government said repair work was being done to restore power supplies and the damaged telecommunications system.

The provincial land and resources department sent a team of geologists to help investigate the cause of the landslides and prevent subsequent disasters.

The village is sandwiched between steep mountains and the Nujiang River, the longest waterway in southwest China.

Experts say a sustained drought, which lasted from September last year to May, followed by this summer's torrential rain, increased the risk of landslides and avalanches of rocks and mud in the region.