One dead after landslide hits China’s Sichuan province

Rescue efforts continue to find at least 28 missing people as landslide buries nearly a dozen homes.

Rescuers in southwestern China are searching for dozens of people missing after a landslide tore through a village, killing at least one person, according to Chinese state media.

The landslide, triggered by heavy rainfall, took place in Jingping village in Yibin city in China’s Sichuan province on Saturday morning.

It left 28 people unaccounted for and buried 10 houses, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

Nearly 1,000 personnel, including armed police, firefighters and medical professionals, continued rescue operations on Sunday, after President Xi Jinping ordered authorities to do everything possible to “minimise casualties and properly handle the aftermath”.

Some officers navigated through the remains of collapsed buildings, using drones and life-detection radars to locate any signs of life with the help of local officials who were familiar with the area, state broadcaster CCTV said.

They rescued two injured victims and evacuated about 360 other people, CCTV reported.

At a news conference on Sunday, authorities said preliminary assessments attributed the disaster to recent heavy rainfall and local geological conditions. They said these factors transformed a landslide into a debris flow, resulting in an accumulation of debris stretching about 1.2km (more than half a mile) in length, with a total volume exceeding 100,000 cubic metres (3.5 million cubic feet).

“A preliminary study shows this disaster occurred due to the influence of recent prolonged rainfall and geological factors,” CCTV said, citing local authorities.

Chinese Vice Premier Liu Guozhong was at the site to guide the rescue operation and visited the affected residents. He urged authorities to make every effort to search for the missing people, according to official news agency Xinhua.

Liu also noted the surrounding slopes still pose collapse risks, calling for scientific assessment to ensure the safety of the operation and prevent another disaster, Xinhua said.

China has allocated 80 million yuan (about $11m) to support disaster relief and recovery efforts.

Landslides, often caused by rain or unsafe construction work, are not uncommon in China. Last year, a landslide in a remote, mountainous part of China’s southwestern province of Yunnan killed dozens of people.

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Al Jazeera and news agencies