BEIJING, CHINA - A landslide at a southwestern Chinese iron ore mine has buried at least 59 people, state media said on Friday.

Rescuers were on their way to the disaster site in Wulong county in Chongqing municipality, the official Xinhua news agency said.

'Millions of cubic meters of rock flooded a valley, burying an iron ore plant and six houses,' it said.

China's mines are the deadliest in the world, due to lax safety standards and a rush to feed demand from a booming economy. More than 3,000 died in coal mine accidents alone in 2008.

Last September, a mudslide caused by the collapse of a mine waste reservoir in northern Shanxi province killed more than 250 people.