China Landslide Leaves Eight Dead, 34 Missing

A landslide in southwest China killed at least eight people and left 34 missing on Friday, local authorities said, with Chinese President Xi Jinping urging comprehensive inspections as rescue efforts were ongoing.

The landslide happened around 9:10 am local time (0110 GMT) in Chongqing’s Pengshui County, with more than 800 rescuers deployed to the site, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

County leader Ren Xujiang told a press conference that 18 people who were trapped were rescued. Among those, eight were pronounced dead.

Footage shared by CCTV showed a huge buildup of rocks and dirt covering part of a residential and commercial street at the bottom of a mountain in the region.

Clips also aired by the broadcaster showed people yelling and running away from a cloud of dust.

The area where the landslide happened is known for “unpredictable” steep terrain, a local official told a press conference late Friday, adding that dangerous rocks still remain along the sides of the cliff.

The government allocated 50 million yuan ($7.36 million) in natural disaster relief funds to support the rescue and relief operations and to provide assistance to affected residents, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Emergency Management said.

Xi urged authorities to swiftly determine the cause of the disaster, and to “identify and eliminate geological disaster risks and other potential hazards”.

The landslide in Chongqing comes less than two weeks after another landslide in northwestern Gansu province buried 33 people, 21 of whom were killed.