The death toll from a landslide that virtually destroyed a small village in Yemen yesterday has risen to 45.
The death toll was expected to rise further, with dozens of the village’s 270 inhabitants still missing and believed trapped under mud and rubble.
Relatives using their bare hands have joined rescue workers with tractors and earthmovers clawing through the rubble to seek survivors.
Eight people have been recovered alive so far after the landslide, which destroyed 25 of the 31 houses in the rocky hillside village of Al-Dhafir 70km west of the capital, Sanaa.
It was not immediately clear what caused the landslide, with no reports of an earthquake or severe weather.
Despite its proximity to oil-rich Saudi Arabia, Yemen is one of the world's poorest countries.
