A landslide buried dozens of people in a remote, mountainous location in southwest China on Monday, state media reported, adding that eight bodies had already been found.
The tragedy occurred at 5:51 a.m. (9:51 p.m. GMT Sunday) in Liangshui village in Yunnan province, burying a total of 47 people, Xinhua News Agency first reported.
“More than 200 residents were urgently evacuated, 10 excavators, 33 fire engines and more than 200 rescuers were mobilized for search operations,” public television CCTV said.
A video released by New China shows about 10 firefighters in orange suits and helmets advancing on what appear to be collapsed concrete blocks and other debris.
Images broadcast by CCTV show a snow-covered mountain village with houses partially buried by the landslide.
According to the latest report released late afternoon, “eight missing people were found and they showed no signs of life,” the broadcaster said, without mentioning the number of remaining missing people.
“Everything they can do”
A resident told Beijing News (Xinjingbao) that she was sleeping when the disaster struck and pieces of the ceiling of her home fell on her.
“At first I thought it was an earthquake. Then I realized it was the mountain that collapsed,” another resident told the daily.
The scene of the tragedy is about 1,600 kilometers as the crow flies southwest of Shanghai and around 350 kilometers northeast of the provincial capital Kunming.
Chinese President Xi Jinping ordered rescue workers to “do everything possible to limit the number of victims,” CCTV reported.
“It is appropriate to carry out the work to support the families of the victims and resettle those affected,” he stressed.
A Chinese Communist Party (CCP) official in Liangshui village contacted by phone did not want to discuss the landslide, telling AFP he was “too busy.”
Yunnan is a mountainous province home to many ethnic groups and is still one of the poorest in China.
Icy temperatures
According to the Chinese Meteorological Service, temperatures in Zhenxiong Canton, where the tragedy occurred, are currently around 0°C during the day and fall to -4°C at night.
Landslides occur regularly in the mountainous southwest of China, especially after rainfall. No official reason has been given for Monday's tragedy.
In September, storms in the Guangxi region (south) caused a landslide in a mountainous area, killing at least seven people, according to local press.
Around twenty people died last August in a landslide following a flash flood in a village near the city of Xi'an (north).
In June 2023, 19 people died in a landslide in Sichuan Province (southwest), which is also isolated and mountainous.