36 Bodies Recovered From Tibet Landslide, Rescue Operations Suspended Amid Concern Of Further Landslides (VIDEO)

Rescue workers have recovered at least 36 bodies from a landslide that occurred at a mining site in Tibet, but rescue operations have reportedly now been suspended due to fears of further landslides.

The initial landslide happened at 6:00 a.m. local time Friday, burying 83 miners under tons of mud, rock and debris about 45 miles east of the Tibetan capital Lhasa, the BBC reported.

More than 4,500 rescue workers and 200 machines were involved in the rescue operations, which Chinese state media outlet Xinhua News Agency reported were suspended Monday after geologists found four cracks nearly 2,000 feet long on the mountain top, prompting concerns of a subsequent landslide.

Rescue workers battled freezing temperatures and altitude sickness as they searched over the weekend for bodies and survivors, finding the first body after 36 hours of searching. More bodies were recovered Sunday.

Authorities said there is a slim chance of finding survivors, but according to BBC, a rescue worker told China National Radio that the search would continue "as long as there was a one percent chance" of finding bodies.

The landslide struck a workers' camp at Jiama Copper Polymetallic Mine, burying workers who were reportedly mostly ethnic Han Chinese from Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan provinces. Two ethnic Tibetans were also reported buried in the landslide along with 11 pieces of machinery from Tibet Huatailong Mining Development Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of China National Gold Group Corporation, the country's largest gold producer.