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Workers buried to their necks in construction tragedy

WARNING - DISTRESSING CONTENT: Terrifying video shows workers trapped up to their necks in rubble after a landslide claimed the lives of four people at a construction site.

Rescue workers rushed to the aid of survivors who were trapped after the slope collapse in Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture in China's central Hunan province on Thursday.

Workers were checking drainage at the site where an expressway will run through when mud and sand fell from a nearby hill, trapping five people, Xinhua reported.

Male workers trapped by the landslide at a construction site in China. Source: The Paper
Several male workers were trapped by the landslide in China, eventually being pulled to safety. Source: The Paper

When emergency crews arrived, another landslide occurred, trapping a further six people.

Video shows workers attempting to dig around those trapped, with one man trapped at the waist and one man submerged up to his neck. An excavator can also be seen partially covered.

Authorities say seven people were taken to hospital for minor injuries while four people were killed.

One man trapped at the waist told Beijing News he heard someone scream to warn of the landslide but as he attempted to run away he was trapped.

He remains in hospital in a stable condition.

Local authorities says the incident and what caused the landslide remains under investigation.

The incident horrified users on Chinese social media site Weibo.

"How tragic to be buried alive," one person wrote.

In June, nine people were killed after a building being demolished collapsed on a bus in South Korea.

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