Dozens missing in southwest China landslide amid freezing temperatures

A landslide in southwest China’s Yunnan province in the early hours of Monday has left at least 47 people from 18 households missing as rescue operations are underway in snowy sub-zero weather.

At about 5:51 a.m. (2151 GMT), a landslide hit two villages in city of Zhaotong, leavingbrown mountain soil covering houses at the foot of a hill, state-owned China Central Television (CCTV) reported on Monday.

Firefighters are climbing through the rubble of the collapsed homes and searching for survivors in light snow on Monday morning, CCTV reported.

China has dispatched nearly 1,000 rescue workers to the scene, along with nearly 200 rescue vehicles, the report said. Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing is leading a workgroup to the site to guide rescue works.

More than 500 people have been evacuated. It’s not clear what caused the landslide.

“The mountain just collapsed, dozens were buried,” a man surnamed Gu, who witnessed the landslide, told the state-owned TV station for the neighbouring province of Guizhou. Gu said four of his relatives were buried under the rubble.

“They were all sleeping at their homes,” he said.

Yunnan, in southwest China, is among several provinces in the country’s southern region currently experiencing a cold wave and bitter temperatures near or below freezing, according to the National Meteorological Centre.