A landslide in southwest China's Sichuan province on Sunday killed 19 people, Chinese state media said. An initial assessment given by the local government reported 14 dead and five missing, but the bodies of these disappeared were later found, according to state media.
The landslide occurred on top of a mountain at the site of a forest farm near the city of Leshan, and reached a mining production site under construction, the sources said.
19 killed in landslide at mine in SW China's Sichuan Province pic.twitter.com/YZyia0WiyQ
— CGTN (@CGTNOfficial) June 5, 2023
180 people searching for survivors
As of 20 p.m. local time, the death toll stood at 19 and search operations for the missing were halted, China's state-run CCTV said. More than 180 people have been sent to the scene to try to find any survivors, local authorities said.
The crash site is located in a mountainous area about 240 km south of Chengdu, the provincial capital. About 40,000 people live in this rural area, which depends on forestry and agricultural activities as well as some industries including electric power.
Landslides are a common hazard in mountainous and rural parts of China, especially during the rainy season months. Landslides have already occurred in Sichuan, including in 2017 when a landslide completely engulfed a village and its sixty houses.