Over 100 people feared buried in China landslide
Local officials say rescue operation underway after cascading debris from collapsed mountain swallows 40 homes in Sichuan Province
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BEIJING — Around 100 people are feared buried after a landslide smashed through their village in southwest China’s Sichuan Province early Saturday, local officials said, as they launched an emergency rescue operation.
Some 40 homes in the village of Xinmo were swallowed by the cascading debris after the side of a mountain collapsed, blocking a two kilometer (one mile) stretch of river, according to a statement from the Maoxian government news office.
An emergency response “to the first class catastrophic geological disaster” is under way, the statement said, adding that the full extent of the landslide was at yet unclear.
A report from the state news agency Xinhua said that “part of a mountain” in the Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture of Aba had collapsed.
Landslides are a frequent danger in rural and mountainous parts of China, particularly at times of heavy rains.
UPDATE: Over 100 people buried after landslide smashes 40 homes in SW China's Sichuan; 2km of river blocked https://t.co/96SJbHBfT0 pic.twitter.com/W2maRL9yxc
— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) June 24, 2017
At least 12 people were killed in January when a landslide smashed into a hotel in central Hubei province.
In October landslides battered eastern China in the wake of torrential rains brought by Typhoon Megi, causing widespread damage and killing at least eight.
The Times of Israel Community.