Two separate landslides in southwest China have claimed at least 20 lives and 18 people are still missing, the official media reported today.
A landslide in China's Guizhou province's Nayong county yesterday hit 34 households. More than 600,000 cubic meters of rock and mud hit the village, local authorities were quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.
So far 25 people have been found, of which 17 were dead. Eight people have been injured and 18 are still missing, local authorities said.
The injured are being treated in a local hospital and in stable condition, officials said.
A total of 195 people from 66 households were forced to evacuate to safety after the landslide.
Over 2,000 people, including police, fire fighters and medical staff are at the scene and more than 80 emergency vehicles, 20 life detectors, 17 digging machines and eight drones are involved in the rescue work, it said.
Local authorities have sent tents, quilts and camp beds to the site after the disaster to carry out relief efforts for affected people. Search efforts are continuing, it said.
Following the landslide, China yesterday issued a grade- IV emergency response.
A grade-IV response, the lowest in China's four-tier emergency response system. It means a 24-hour alert, daily damage reports, and the allocation of money and relief materials within 48 hours.
Meanwhile, a fresh landslide today hit a village in neighbouring Yunnan Province, leaving three people dead and five injured, authorities said.
The landslide engulfed in Yingpan village, Daguan county in the city of Zhaotong.
Guizhou and Yunnan have seen continuous rainstorms over the past week as a result of recent typhoons, the report said.
Landslides are a frequent danger in rural and mountainous parts of China, particularly after heavy rains. Mountainous Guizhou is one of China's poorest provinces.
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