June 24 (UPI) — More than 100 people are missing and dozens of homes buried in a village in southwest China after a landslide on Saturday morning.
About 40 homes in Xinmo Village were left covered in piles of rocks and debris, Chinese state-run CCTV reported, as at least 120 people were feared to have been buried by the landslide that occurred at about 6 a.m.
Rescue crews dug through the rubble with their bare hands in the pouring rain, rescuing a couple and their 5-week old baby and unearthing five bodies.
“For now we are using our hands and shovels to dig,” a rescue team leader, Wang Yongbo, told CCTV.
Yongbo added that a second, smaller landslide occurred in the area, making it difficult for heavy machinery to reach the village.
China’s President Xi Jinping ordered “all-out efforts” from the rescue teams to save survivors and reduce casualties, as 780 firefighters,146 rescue vehicles and 29 rescue dogs were rushed to the scene.
Severe rains in the area are believed to have contributed to the landslide, as the Ministry of Land and Resources said surface stability of the mountains in the area had deteriorated since an earthquake in 2008.
“The cause of the landslide is complicated. Heavy rains and an unstable mountain structure could have contributed,” geological emergency response official Tian Yanshan told CCTV. “Earthquakes, mining activities — many man-made and natural activities can possibly trigger landslides. When the stability of the mountain structure has reached its maximum, any triggering factor could lead to landslides.”
