Number victims after landslide in China’s Yunnan province has risen as authorities confirmed that 47 people were buried in the early hours of Monday in the northern part of the province. State media outlet Xinhua reported the updated count, noting that the toll had climbed from seven to eleven in the preceding hours.
More than a thousand soldiers took part in the rapid search and rescue operation, alongside local volunteers and emergency responders. Some people who were still en route when the landslide struck were accounted for as rescuers worked through debris and unstable terrain. Official figures indicated eleven fatalities among those buried, while information on injuries and the number of survivors was not immediately released by late Monday night local time (14:00 GMT on Monday). The status of additional people thought to be missing remained unclear at that update.
The landslide occurred at 05:51 local time on Monday in the Zhenxiong district, a highland area in the northern portion of the targeted region. The disaster affected roughly 18 homes situated in a low-lying corridor between two mountains, where residents described the event as a sudden, earth-shaking rupture that interrupted their sleep in the pre-dawn darkness. An eyewitness told Jimu News that a loud rumble followed by ground motion resembled a powerful earthquake, underscoring the abrupt and dangerous nature of the slide.
Initial assessments from Xinhua detailed the physical dimensions of the landslide mass, estimating a width of about 100 meters, a height near 60 meters, and an average thickness around 6 meters. The region had experienced heavy snowfall through Sunday night, with temperatures near freezing. This combination contributed to icy road conditions that hindered access to the affected area, complicating efforts to reach victims and deliver relief supplies.
In response to the incident, Chinese President Xi Jinping instructed authorities to mobilize all necessary resources for search and rescue operations and to prioritize the safety of responders and the affected communities. The directive emphasized coordinated, comprehensive action to locate, assist, and evacuate any remaining victims, while ensuring medical support and shelter for those displaced by the landslide.