Over 120 people missing as landslide hits China village

From TRT World

At least five people have been killed after the village of Xinmo was swallowed by the cascading debris from a collapsed mountain during heavy rains in southwest China's Sichuan Province, officials say.

Landslides are a frequent danger in rural and mountainous parts of China, particularly at times of heavy rains.

At least five people were found dead and over 120 remained missing hours after a massive landslide buried a mountain village in southwest China on Saturday as rescuers scoured through rocks for survivors.
A couple and a baby were rescued and taken to hospital after dozens of homes in the village of Xinmo were swallowed by boulders when the side of a mountain collapsed, according to the local Maoxian, or Mao county, government.
A fourth survivor was found but rescuers were still trying to get to him hours after heavy rain triggered the avalanche of rock in Sichuan province, officials said.

Wu Xiaobin, captain of the local fire department, told state broadcaster CCTV that five bodies were pulled from the rubble.
The early morning landslide, which occurred following heavy rains in the region, struck 62 homes and blocked a two-kilometre (one-mile) stretch of river and 1.6 kilometre of road, according to state media.
A report from the state news agency Xinhua said that "part of a mountain" in the Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture of Aba had collapsed. 
Rescuers used ropes to move a massive rock while dozens of others, aided by dogs, searched the rubble for survivors, according to videos posted online by the Maoxian government and state broadcaster CCTV.
Bulldozers and heavy diggers were also deployed to remove boulders, the images showed. Medics were seen treating a woman on a road. Hundreds of police, military and firefighters were taking part in the rescue.
More rain in the horizon
China's national weather observatory said more heavy rain was expected in parts of Sichuan and other southwestern provinces.
Local police captain Chen Tiebo said the heavy rains that hit the region in recent days had triggered the landslide.
"There are several tonnes of rock" over the village, he told CCTV.
"It's a seismic area here. There's not a lot of vegetation," Chen said.
Frequent danger
Landslides are a frequent danger in rural and mountainous parts of China, particularly at times of heavy rains. 
The area is prone to earthquakes, including one in 1933 that resulted in parts of Diexi town becoming submerged by a nearby lake, and an 8.0 magnitude tremor in central Sichuan's Wenchuan county in 2008 that killed nearly 70,000 people.
At least 12 people were killed in January when a landslide smashed into a hotel in central Hubei province.
In October landslides battered eastern China in the wake of torrential rains brought by Typhoon Megi, causing widespread damage and killing at least eight. 

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