Landslide Buries Residents in China’s Chongqing

BEIJING- An unknown number of people were buried after a landslide struck Pengshui County in the southwestern Chinese municipality of Chongqing on Friday, collapsing several residential buildings despite an earlier evacuation order, state media reported.

According to state broadcaster CCTV, a community worker observed falling rocks at around 8:00 a.m. local time and issued an emergency warning. Authorities ordered more than 60 residents to evacuate the area, but the landslide occurred at 9:08 a.m. while the evacuation was still underway, trapping an undetermined number of people.

Officials were still working to verify how many people remained buried, state media said.

China’s official Xinhua News Agency reported that nine people had been rescued from the debris. None of those pulled from the rubble was in life-threatening condition.

The cause of the landslide was not immediately known.

Footage broadcast by CCTV showed large volumes of rock and earth cascading down a hillside onto riverside residential buildings as residents fled through clouds of dust.

A dashcam video verified by Reuters captured part of the hillside collapsing onto homes and commercial buildings, with debris spreading across a nearby road and forcing motorists and a motorcyclist to stop abruptly.

China’s Ministry of Emergency Management activated a Level II emergency response following the disaster and dispatched a 100-member rescue team to the affected area, according to a ministry statement.

The ministry said 206 firefighters and rescue personnel, supported by 49 emergency vehicles, had also been deployed to assist search and rescue operations.

Rescue efforts were continuing as authorities searched for those still believed to be trapped beneath the debris.