Story highlights Heavy rainfall could be the cause of catastrophe

A 2008 earthquake may have set the stage for this landslide, an official says

Beijing (CNN) At least 15 bodies have been recovered from the rubble of a landslide in southwestern China, state news outlets reported Sunday, citing emergency officials.

CCTV also said 118 people were missing in the disaster, which occurred early Saturday in Sichuan province.

About 1,000 rescue workers using life-detection equipment hustled through the night to locate survivors. Dozens of homes were buried.

Heavy rainfall is thought to be a possible cause of the accident, according to the provincial government's Land and Resources Department.

Emergency personnel search through the rubble after the landslide.

"Authorities must make maximum efforts to reduce casualties and prevent secondary disasters," Chinese President Xi Jinping said, calling for "all-out efforts" to save those who were buried.

Read More</s>Beijing: At least six people were killed and over 100 others remained missing after a mountain village was today buried under tonnes of rocks following a massive landslide in southwest China's Sichuan Province.

The landslide from a high part of a mountain in Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture of Aba hit Xinmo Village in Maoxian County at about 6 AM, blocking a 2 km section of a river and burying 1,600 metres of road.

A side of a mountain collapsed following the landslide, triggered by heavy rains, burying 62 homes and a hotel under huge rocks.

The Maoxian government said on its Weibo social media account that six bodies were pulled from the rubble while 112 people remained missing.

State media had earlier reported that 141 people may have been buried but later the figure was revised.

Nearly 2,000 rescuers, including soldiers, frantically scoured through the mud and rocks to find survivors.

It is the biggest landslide in this area since the Wenchuan earthquake that killed 87,000 people in 2008 in a town in Sichuan, said one of the officials in charge of rescue efforts.

A family of three was pulled out alive from the rubble, the Mao County government said on its official Weibo page.

The couple and their baby are being treated at the Mao County People's Hospital, the post said. It did not provide further details on their identities.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has ordered all-out efforts to save people buried in the landslide.

Xi has ordered the State Council, China's Cabinet, to send a work team to the site.

The provincial government has launched the highest level of disaster relief response and sent rescue teams to the site, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

More than 300 rescuers carrying excavation and life- detection instruments were rushed to the site, said Tang Limin, spokesperson of Sichuan provincial government.

Pictures posted by the People's Daily newspaper showed bulldozers moving earth and large boulders as the rescue efforts continued.

Local police told state broadcaster CCTV that the landslide had been triggered by recent heavy rains in the region and that the situation was made worse by a lack of vegetation in the area.

"There are several tonnes of rock," police captain Chen Tiebo told the broadcaster, adding that, "It's a seismic area here."

Roads in the county were closed to all traffic except emergency services.

Landslides are a regular danger in mountainous regions of China, especially during heavy rains.

In 2008, 87,000 people were killed when an earthquake struck Wenchuan county in Sichuan province. In Maoxian county, 37 tourists were killed when their coach was buried in a landslide caused by the earthquake.</s>Women watch as earthmoving equipment digs at the site of a landslide in Xinmo village in Maoxian County in southwestern China's Sichuan Province, Sunday. (Photo: AP)

Beijing: At least 15 people were killed and over 120 others remained missing after a mountain village was on Sunday buried under tonnes of rocks following a massive landslide in southwest China's Sichuan Province, the worst such disaster in the country in recent times.

The early morning landslide, which came from a mountain in Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture of Aba, engulfed 62 homes and a hotel in Xinmo Village in Maoxian County.

A side of a mountain collapsed following the landslide, blocking a 2 km section of a river and burying 1,600 metres of road.

The Maoxian government said on its Weibo social media account that 15 bodies were pulled from the rubble while 120 people remained missing.

State media had earlier reported that 141 people may have been buried but later the figure was revised.

The landslide was apparently triggered by a mild earthquake in the area, an expert told state-run CGTN.

According to reports, the village which was built in a valley surrounded by mountains experienced one more landslide after the initial one in the morning.

Nearly 2,000 rescuers, including soldiers, frantically scoured through the mud and rocks to find survivors.

Armed police and experts in geology, hydrology and surveillance joined the rescue and risks assessment group with equipment including drones and laser scanners.

It is the biggest landslide in this area since the Wenchuan earthquake that killed 87,000 people in 2008 in a town in Sichuan.

A family of three was pulled out alive from the rubble, the Mao County government said on its official Weibo page.

The couple and their baby are being treated at the Mao County People's Hospital, the post said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang have ordered all-out efforts to save people buried in the landslide.

Xi has ordered the State Council, China's Cabinet, to send a work team to the site.

"Authorities must make maximum efforts to reduce casualties and prevent secondary disasters," Xi said.

The prime minister has ordered an investigation into the reason for the landslide.

The provincial government has launched the highest level of disaster relief response and sent rescue teams to the site.

Pictures posted by the People's Daily newspaper showed bulldozers moving earth and large boulders as the rescue efforts continued.

"In the entire village I could only see one home. The rest had been totally buried by rocks," said a local official Li Yuanjun.

Reports from the area said some people stuck under the mud and rock used mobile phones to call emergency lines.

"A woman shouted and dozens of troopers heard her and asked her questions. She could only use a stone to tap in response," Wang Yongbo, a firefighter, told TV channels.

Roads in the county were closed to all traffic except emergency services.

Following the landslide, China upgraded its geological disaster alert to the second highest level.

Local authorities have been asked to take extra precautions in rain-affected areas.

China's national weather observatory continued a yellow alert for rain on Sunday, with more heavy showers expected across the country in the next few days.

Landslides are a regular danger in mountainous regions of China, especially during heavy rains.

In 2008, 87,000 people were killed when an earthquake struck Wenchuan county in Sichuan province. In Maoxian county, 37 tourists were killed when their coach was buried in a landslide caused by the earthquake.</s>Rescue workers are seen at the site of a landslide in in Xinmo village, Diexi town of Maoxian county, Sichuan province on June 24, 2017. (STR/AFP/Getty Images)

Chinese military police and rescue workers are seen at the site of a landslide in in Xinmo village, Diexi town of Maoxian county, Sichuan province on June 24, 2017. (STR/AFP/Getty Images)

Chinese military police and rescue workers are seen at the site of a landslide in in Xinmo village, Diexi town of Maoxian county, Sichuan province on June 24, 2017. (STR/AFP/Getty Images)

Chinese military police and rescue workers are seen at the site of a landslide in in Xinmo village, Diexi town of Maoxian county, Sichuan province on June 24, 2017. (STR/AFP/Getty Images)

Chinese military police and rescue workers are seen at the site of a landslide in in Xinmo village, Diexi town of Maoxian county, Sichuan province on June 24, 2017. (AFP/Getty Images)

Chinese military police and rescue workers are seen at the site of a landslide in in Xinmo village, Diexi town of Maoxian county, Sichuan province on June 24, 2017. (AFP/Getty Images)

In this photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, emergency personnel, in orange, work at the site of a landslide in Xinmo village in Maoxian County in southwestern China's Sichuan Province, Saturday, June 24, 2017. (He Qinghai/Xinhua via AP)

In this image taken from video run by China's CCTV via AP Video, Qiao Dashuai, left, is attended to by nurses at a hospital after surviving a landslide in Xinmo village in Maoxian County in southwestern China's Sichuan Province, Saturday, June 24, 2017. (CCTV via AP Video)

In this photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, vehicles and people line a road leading to the site of a landslide in Xinmo village in Maoxian County in southwestern China's Sichuan Province, Saturday, June 24, 2017. (He Qinghai/Xinhua via AP)

Emergency personnel work at the site of a massive landslide in Xinmo village in Maoxian County in southwestern China's Sichuan Province, Saturday, June 24, 2017. (Chinatopix via AP)

This screengrab taken from a broadcast by China's State broadcaster CCTV on June 24, 2017 shows rescuers looking for survivors after a landslide hit the village of Xinmo in China's Sichuan province. (CCTV/AFP/Getty Images)

Chinese military police and rescue workers are seen at the site of a landslide in in Xinmo village, Diexi town of Maoxian county, Sichuan province on June 24, 2017. (STR/AFP/Getty Images)

BEIJING — More than 120 people were buried by a landslide that caused huge rocks and a mass of earth to come crashing into their homes in a mountain village in southwestern China early Saturday, officials said.

The landslide, which came from a mountain, engulfed a cluster of 62 homes and a hotel in the village of Xinmo in Mao County at about 6 a.m., the Sichuan provincial government said. Officials said 1.6 kilometres (1 mile) of road were buried in the disaster.

“It’s the biggest landslide to hit this area since the Wenchuan earthquake,” Wang Yongbo, an official leading one of the rescue efforts, told state broadcaster China Central Television. Wang was referring to China’s deadliest earthquake this century, a magnitude 7.9 temblor that struck Sichuan province in May 2008, killing nearly 90,000 people.

The provincial government said more than 120 people were buried by the landslide. CCTV cited a rescuer as saying five bodies had been found.

Rescuers pulled out three people, two of whom had survived, the official Sichuan Daily newspaper said on its microblog. The paper also said a family of three, including a month-old baby, managed to escape just as the landslide started to hit their house.

Qiao Dashuai told CCTV that the baby saved the family because he was woken up by the child’s crying and was going to change the baby’s diaper when he heard a noise that alerted him to the landslide.

“We heard a strange noise at the back of our house, and it was rather loud,” Qiao said. “Wind was coming into the room so I wanted to close the door. When we came out, water flow swept us away instantly.” He said they struggled against the flood of water until they met medical workers who took them to a hospital. Qiao said his parents and other relatives had not been found.

Mao County, or Maoxian, sits on the eastern margin of the Tibetan plateau and is home to about 110,000 people, according to the government’s website. Most residents are of the Qiang ethnic minority. The village is known locally for tourism, and Chinese reports said it was unclear if tourists were among those buried by the landslide.

The landslide blocked a two-kilometre (1.2-mile) section of a river. The provincial government said on its website that an estimated 8 million cubic meters (282 million cubic feet) of earth and rock — equivalent to more than 3,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools — had slid down the mountain.

Experts told CCTV that the landslide was likely triggered by rain. A meteorologist interviewed by CCTV said there was light rain in the area that would continue for a few days.

The Sichuan Daily said rescuers made contact with a villager buried under the rubble who answered her cellphone when they called and burst into tears. The woman was in the bedroom of her home when the landslide hit the village, and rescuers were trying to reach her, the report said.

Search and rescue efforts were underway involving more than 400 workers, including police. CCTV showed footage of rescuers in bright orange uniforms using earth movers and excavators but also relying on ropes to pull at huge rocks and shovels to dig up the dirt.

Provincial police sent 500 rescuers with two dozen sniffer dogs to the site, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.</s>Some 40 homes in the village of Xinmo were swallowed by the cascading debris after the side of a mountain collapsed.

At least 12 people were killed in January when a landslide smashed into a hotel in central Hubei province. (Photo: AP)

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 kilometre (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.

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.</s>More than 100 people are feared dead in a landslide that took place in China’s Sichuan Province on Saturday. A rescue operation is underway, Xinhua reported. Meanwhile, officials said at least two people have died in rain-related incidents in the Hunan province and almost 4.70 lakh people have been affected by the extreme weather conditions, People’s Daily reported.

Officials said at least 40 houses have been destroyed in the calamity triggered by heavy rain in Sichuan. A large portion of a mountain in the Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture of Aba collapsed over Xinmo Village at about 6am and blocked two kilometre section of a river course, Xinhua reported.</s>Fifteen persons have been confirmed dead in a landslide in China’s Sichuan Province on Saturday that buried more than 120 people from 62 homes.

Rescuers had retrieved 15 bodies from the debris by Saturday night, the rescue headquarters said.

The search and rescue operation was underway overnight and people have been sent to observe potential secondary disasters.

Rescuers were combing the area with life detectors and sniffer dogs but no new signs of life have been found.

Xu Zhiwen, Executive Deputy Governor of the Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture of Aba that the landslide stuck, said the identities of 118 missing will be soon made public on the government’s website.

Xu also cleared up worries that some tourists might be among the buried as the village is in a tourist site.

The landslide from a high part of a mountain in Aba prefecture hit Xinmo Village in Maoxian County, blocking a 2-km section of river and burying 1,600 meters of road.

The provincial government has launched the highest level of disaster relief response and sent rescue teams to the site.

Currently, more than 3,000 workers with life-detection instruments are engaged in the search for survivors.

Geological experts at the site said the chance of survival for the people buried was really slim.</s>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 kilometre (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.</s>Beijing, June 25: Fifteen persons have been confirmed dead in a landslide in China's Sichuan Province on Saturday that buried more than 120 people from 62 homes.

Rescuers had retrieved 15 bodies from the debris by Saturday night, the rescue headquarters said, Xinhua news agency reported on Sunday.

The search and rescue operation was underway overnight and people have been sent to observe potential secondary disasters.

Rescuers were combing the area with life detectors and sniffer dogs but no new signs of life have been found. "We won't give up," said one rescuer. Xu Zhiwen, Executive Deputy Governor of the Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture of Aba that the landslide stuck, said the identities of 118 missing will be soon made public on the government's website.

Xu also cleared up worries that some tourists might be among the buried as the village is in a tourist site.

The landslide from a high part of a mountain in Aba prefecture hit Xinmo Village in Maoxian County, blocking a 2-km section of river and burying 1,600 meters of road.

The provincial government has launched the highest level of disaster relief response and sent rescue teams to the site.

Currently, more than 3,000 workers with life-detection instruments are engaged in the search for survivors.

Geological experts at the site said the chance of survival for the people buried was really slim. Only three persons from one family were rescued five hours after the landslide struck. They were taken to Maoxian County People's Hospital and none suffered life-threatening injuries. Another three-year-old child of the family remains buried.</s>omen watch as earthmoving equipment digs at the site of a landslide in Xinmo village in Maoxian County in southwestern China's Sichuan Province, Sunday. (Photo: AP)

Mao County: Chinese crews recovered nine bodies and were still searching for 109 others on Sunday, a day after a massive landslide buried a picturesque mountain village in the southwestern province of Sichuan.

More than 2,500 rescuers with detection devices and dogs were looking for signs of life amid the rubble of massive boulders that descended on Xinmo village in Mao county early Saturday. The government lowered an earlier figure of 15 dead retrieved, which was initially reported in the state media.

Three people — a couple and their month-old infant — are the only ones rescued from the site Saturday.

A government-run news outlet said the adults were in stable conditions, while the baby was sent to an intensive care unit with pneumonia induced by mud inhalation.

Relatives from nearby villages were sobbing as they awaited news of their loved ones. A woman told The Associated Press that she had no information on her family members in Xinmo. She said she had only heard reports that body parts were found.

The landslide that struck early morning carried an estimated 8 million cubic meters (282 million cubic feet) of earth and rock, equivalent to more than 3,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools, when it slid down from steep mountains. It buried 1.6 kilometers (1 mile) of road and blocked a 2-kilometer (1.2-mile) section of a river as it completely wiped away the village that was once home to 46 families, or more than 100 people.

Sitting on the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau and part of the Aba prefecture, Xinmo village has in recent years become a tourism destination for its picturesque scenery of homes in lush meadows nestled between steep and rugged mountains. Images posted by local authorities in social media now show a vast area of rubble with hardly any trace of a home.

There were 142 tourists around the time the landslide hit, and all were alive, said Xu Zhiwen, executive deputy governor of the Aba prefecture.

Three members of the Qiao family were found five hours after the landslide. Qiao Dashuai, 26, told the state broadcaster CCTV that he and his wife awoke to cries from their 1-month-old son around 5:30 a.m.

“Just after we changed the diaper for the baby, we heard a big bang outside and the light went out,” the husband said. “We felt that something bad was happening and immediately rushed to the door, but the door was blocked by mud and rocks.”

Qiao told CCTV his family was swept away by water as part of a mountain collapsed. He said they struggled against the flood until they met medical workers who took them to a hospital. His parents and other relatives were among the missing.

Experts on state media say the landslide was likely triggered by rain. The mountainous region has been prone to geological disasters. In May 2008, a magnitude 7.9 earthquake killed nearly 90,000 people in Wenchuan county, some 40 kilometers (25 miles) away from Mao county.

Scientist He Siming told the state-owned Beijing News that the 2008 earthquake could have done structural damage to the mountains surrounding Xinmo. He said the rain could have been the trigger.

In 2014, a landslide in the same county killed 11 when it struck a section of a highway.
An early-morning landslide buries 40 homes and leaves 15 people dead and 114 others missing in Aba Prefecture, Sichuan Province, China. At least 500 rescue workers are on scene, and a 2-km stretch of the river in Mao County is blocked.