Rescue efforts are underway in Jingping village, Yibin city, Sichuan province, southern China, after a devastating landslide struck the area on Saturday morning, leaving 28 people missing and at least one confirmed dead, Al Jazeera reports.
The disaster, triggered by recent heavy rainfall, buried 10 houses and has prompted a large-scale emergency response.
State broadcaster CCTV reports that nearly 1,000 personnel, including armed police, firefighters, and medical professionals, are working tirelessly to locate the missing. The operation involves navigating through the wreckage of collapsed buildings, utilizing drones and life-detection radars, guided by local officials familiar with the area. So far, two injured victims have been rescued, and around 360 people have been evacuated from the affected zone.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has issued a directive urging authorities to prioritize minimizing casualties and ensuring proper handling of the aftermath.
Authorities held a press conference, attributing the landslide to a combination of recent intense rainfall and the area’s geological conditions. Preliminary assessments indicate that the rainfall transformed the landslide into a destructive debris flow, creating an accumulation of debris spanning more than half a mile with a volume exceeding 3.5 million cubic feet.
Vice Premier Liu Guozhong is on-site to oversee the rescue operations and has visited with affected residents. He has emphasized the urgency of the search for the missing and stressed the importance of scientific assessments to ensure the safety of the rescue efforts, noting the potential for further collapses on the surrounding slopes. The official news agency Xinhua reported Liu’s call for the prevention of further disasters during the operation.
The Chinese government has allocated 80 million yuan (about $11 million USD) to support disaster relief and recovery efforts in the region.
Landslides are a recurring threat in China, often caused by heavy rainfall or unsafe construction practices. Last year, a separate landslide in Yunnan province resulted in the deaths of dozens. The incident underscores the vulnerability of some regions in China to natural disasters and highlights the challenges faced in disaster preparedness and response.
