At least nine people have died in a mountainous region of China on Monday following a landslide that buried 47 people in more than a dozen homes, reports say.
Video and images are now emerging of first responders combing through debris in the village of Liangshui in southwestern China in hopes of finding survivors.
The rescue operation is being hindered by snow, icy roads and freezing temperatures that are forecast to persist for at least the next three days, according to The Associated Press.
The disaster struck just before 6 a.m. By that evening, state broadcaster CCTV put the death toll at nine. About 500 people were evacuated from the area, while the Zhenxiong county publicity department says victims are buried in about 18 homes.
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Rescue workers search the site of a landslide in Liangshui village in southwestern China’s Yunnan Province on Monday, Jan. 22. (Xinhua via AP)
Luo Dongmei told the AP that she was sleeping when the landslide struck, but she survived and was relocated to a school building by local authorities.
“I was asleep, but my brother knocked on the door and woke me up. They said there was a landslide and the bed was shaking, so they rushed upstairs and woke us up,” the 35-year-old said.
Luo added that she had been unable to contact her sister and aunt, who lived closer to the site of the landslide.
“The only thing I can do is to wait,” she said.
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The landslide in southwestern China’s mountainous Yunnan province early Monday buried dozens and forced the evacuation of hundreds. (Xinhua via AP)
So far, two people have been pulled out from the rubble.
Chinese state television broadcast video of first responders carrying away an individual on a stretcher.
Other footage showed excavators digging through debris.
Chinese military personnel and rescue workers search for survivors after the landslide. (AFP via Getty Images)
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The landslide happened a month after an earthquake in northwestern China left more than 100 people dead.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
