Forty-seven people were buried in a landslide in China’s south-western Yunnan province, state media has reported.
CCTV said on Monday that about 18 households were buried, and more than 200 people were evacuated. Authorities launched an emergency response involving more than 200 rescue workers as well as dozens of fire engines and other equipment, CCTV said.
Landslides are common in Yunnan, a remote region of China where steep mountain ranges butt against the Himalayan plateau. Monday’s disaster occurred in a rural area surrounded by towering peaks dusted with snow. Temperatures in Zhenxiong hovered at around -4C on Monday morning, weather data showed.
An unknown number of villagers were buried in a landslide in China's Yunnan early Monday. Search and rescue for the missing is underway. #China pic.twitter.com/QkrTkKwViY
— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) January 22, 2024
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Online footage from a local broadcaster showed emergency workers in orange jumpsuits and helmets picking through piles of collapsed masonry amid towering mountains dusted with snow.
There was no immediate official explanation of the cause.
China has experienced a string of natural disasters in recent months, some after extreme weather events such as sudden heavy downpours.
In September, rainstorms in the southern region of Guangxi triggered a mountain landslide that killed at least seven people, according to media reports.
Heavy rains sparked a similar disaster near the northern city of Xi’an in August, causing the deaths of more than 20 people, while in June a landslide in south-western Sichuan province – also remote and mountainous – killed 19 people.
