Body found after China landslide buries 83

Rescue teams found the first body Saturday almost 36 hours after a giant landslide in Tibet buried 83 mine workers under two million cubic metres of earth, state media reported.

Xinhua news agency said rescuers "found the first body at 5.35 pm", after a huge section of land buried a copper mine workers' camp in Maizhokunggar county, east of the Tibetan capital Lhasa, at 6:00 am on Friday (2200 GMT Thursday).

The report came after officials said at a press conference at 10:00 am Saturday that no survivors or bodies had been found.

About 2,000 rescuers battled difficult terrain and bad weather in the hunt for survivors, as an emergency response team attempted to prevent a secondary disaster.

One rescue worker had earlier described the chance of survivors being found as "slim", Xinhua reported.

China's new president Xi Jinping and new premier Li Keqiang had ordered "top efforts" to rescue the victims, Xinhua said.

Mountainous regions of Tibet are prone to landslides, which can be exacerbated by heavy mining activity.