A landslide in China’s southwestern Sichuan province on Saturday left one person dead and two injured, state media reported on Sunday.
Rescuers in the Sichuan province are now scrambling to find at least 28 people who have been missing since the landslide struck.
At least 10 houses have reportedly been buried and several people were trapped under soil and debris after the landslide stuck in Jinping village in Sichuan province at 11.50 local time on Saturday.
Two people have been rescued alive with injuries and 200 others have been relocated to safe shelters, state broadcaster CCTV said.
President Xi Jinping has called for “all-out” search and rescue efforts, stressing careful handling of the aftermath of the disaster to prevent secondary disasters.
Images from the state media displayed a massive flow of mud and rocks cascading down a steep mountain and tumbling over what used to be a small village in the valley.
Hundreds of rescuers, including firefighters, have been mobilised by the country’s ministry of emergency management.
The landslide occured after days of heavy rainfall and bad weather, authorities said at a news conference on Sunday.
These conditions triggered a debris flow, resulting in an accumulation stretching about 1.2km (0.7 miles) in length, with a total volume exceeding 100,000 cubic meters (3.5 million cubic feet).
Efforts are still underway to confirm the total number of mission persons.
Chinese premier Li Qiang called for an investigation and inspection of potential geological hazards in nearby areas. He also ordered the relocation of those at risk to safe places and urged measures to prevent secondary disasters.
A villager told Beijing News that rocks had frequently rolled down the mountain since mid-2024, sometimes making sounds resembling firecrackers.
According to the state-run newspaper, the villager also mentioned that geologists had inspected the area late last year.
Landslides, frequently triggered by heavy rain or unsafe construction, are common in China which has allocated 80m yuan ($11m) to support disaster relief and recovery efforts.
Last year, a landslide in a remote mountainous region of southwestern Yunnan province claimed dozens of lives.
