Beijing - At least 26 people died on Monday after a landslide caused by heavy rain destroyed a mine warehouse in a mountainous area of northern China's Shanxi province, state media said.

Several others were trapped under rubble and rescue workers had not established the exact number of people missing at the Tashan mine near Shanxi's Linfen city, the Xinhua news agency quoted local safety officials as saying

Torrential rain caused mud and rock to flow down a hillside and engulf the building early Monday morning, the agency said.

The warehouse was used to store waste material from the mining operation at Tashan, which is believed to be one of the many coal mines in the Linfen area.

More than 300 local residents and police formed a rescue team to search the rubble, the agency said. (dpa)