Six villagers were killed in a landslide in the northwestern province of Shaanxi Wednesday morning, local officials said on Thursday.

The victims, all from the same family, were sleeping in cave houses in a mountainous area in Zizhou County when a huge volume of rocks and earth engulfed the houses.

As of Thursday morning, rescuers had recovered the bodies of the victims, including a 6-year-old child, from the debris.

The accident was caused by the thawing of frozen earth due to warmer weather in recent days, the government said. An investigation is underway.

(Xinhua News Agency February 28, 2008)