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INTRO
A landslide engulfed a village in southwest China's Yunnan Province last Friday, killing 46 people.
By Sunday, government authorities had cremated all the bodies, triggering anger from victims' families.
On Sunday night, about 40 family members of victims gathered on the road to the landslide rescue and disaster relief headquarters in Zhenxiong County, blocking dozens of vehicles.
They were protesting after their loved ones' bodies were cremated without their approval.
The crowd did not disperse until 2 a.m. on Monday.
The landslide, which occurred in the Zhenxiong village of Gaopo on Friday, killed 46 villagers and injured another two.
There, dwellers are mostly of Yi ethnic minority.
According to its tradition, bodies of the dead are usually buried instead of cremated.
When the disaster occurred, most of the family members worked in cities and escaped the disaster.
They say they did not even have a chance to say goodbye to their deceased relatives because of the unapproved cremation.
According to officials with Zhenxiong County, cremation orders were given with consideration to epidemic prevention and the family members' emotions.
As many bodies were incomplete and may have left the families devastated.
The landslide is believed to have been caused by heavy precipitation, and multiple earthquakes that struck a neighboring county last year.
More than 500 villagers have been moved to makeshift tents near the village in case of a secondary disaster.
Others have gone to stay with relatives and friends in other villages.
SOUNDBITE (CHINESE) ZENG DEXIAO, Landslide-hit villager:
"I hope the government can select locations as soon as possible and build new houses for us. Then we can move all livestock there and everybody will be reassured."
Local officials say plans to relocate and rebuild the village have been launched.
SOUNDBITE (CHINESE) CHEN XIANGJIN, Zhenxiong County official:
"Now the villagers are staying in tents for emergency. They'll move to makeshift shelters in ten days."
The scheme will relocate 630 residents of the village two kilometers away from where the landslide happened.
Construction will take about six months and will depend on funds earmarked by the national government.
A daily subsidy of 2 U.S. dollars will be given to those affected by the landslide for the next three months.
The latest development on the event...
On Tuesday, Zhenxiong County made a apology to the family members of landslide victims for the unapproved cremation. It also pledged all-out efforts on post-disaster relief and reconstruction.
