The death toll from the mudslides in a remote mountain township in southwest China' s Yunnan Province has risen to 37, with 55 others still missing as of 6:00 PM Tuesday, said Hou Xinrong, police chief of Gongshan County.

Hou told Xinhua that five bodies were recovered Tuesday -- four under mudslide debris and one at the riverside of the swollen Nujiang River.

A newly-built bridge into and out of the disaster-hit area completed Tuesday and vehicles can cross it already, Hou said.

The mudslides stuck Puladi Township in Gongshan at about 1:30 AM Wednesday last week, burying villages under a deep sludge of mud.

(Xinhua News Agency August 25, 2010)