The death toll of the collapse of multiple buildings in north China's Shanxi Province on Friday rose to 12 on Monday morning, with eight people still unaccounted for as search and rescue operations continue.

The tragedy happened on Friday evening in Xiangning County when a landslide knocked down two residential buildings, a makeshift house and a bathhouse.

Rescuers said they were halfway through the 72 hours that could be the cut-off point to save lives.

Thirteen people have been rescued so far, including young children.

Large-sized machines start working

Large-sized machines were brought in on Sunday afternoon to assist rescue efforts. Two cranes have started to work at the top of the hill to stabilize the hanging parts of collapsed buildings to ensure the safety of rescuers.

A digger has been cleaning up the outer area of the scene trying to dig out a wider rescue way.

Cracks in walls

CGTN visited the site of the tragedy, and saw houses and shops near the collapsed buildings empty, with occupants having been evacuated.

Many nearby residents say they feel afraid.

"I feel quite uneasy now. I never expected this could happen. The collapse happened all of a sudden. And I also feel it's a bit unsafe to live around here," a female shop owner living across the street told CGTN.

"I'm very afraid now. Actually, I saw cracks on our house last winter," said a man who lived in a house near the collapsed site but has now moved out.

Buildings built on slopes

Xiangning County is located in a mountainous area where it's very common for buildings to be constructed on slopes. It's still unknown whether the construction of these houses was legal or met safety regulations.

The collapsed buildings were built on land in the Loess Plateau, which covers almost all of Shanxi Province.

The soft soil has made the site unstable, creating great challenges for rescuers.

Due to safety concerns, the rescue operation was suspended multiple times. Previously, in order to avoid secondary collapses, rescuers would use small tools to pull out trapped people. But they couldn't reach those under the debris in deeper place.

Rescuers say the rescue operation will be safer now that emergency crews have the help of machines.

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