Dozens buried in southwest China landslide

Forty-seven people have been buried after a landslide struck a remote and mountainous part of southwestern China, state media reported.

The landslide took place at 5:51 am (2151 GMT Sunday) in Zhenxiong County, Yunnan province, state news agency Xinhua reported on Monday, citing local authorities.

State broadcaster CCTV said around 18 households were buried, and that more than 200 people were "urgently evacuated" from the area.

Authorities have launched an emergency response involving over 200 rescue workers as well as dozens of fire engines and other equipment, according to CCTV.

Footage shared on social media by a local broadcaster showed emergency workers in orange jumpsuits and helmets forming ranks outside a fire station as snowflakes whirled through the air.

Other images showed rescuers picking through towering piles of collapsed masonry in which a few personal belongings could be seen.

Authorities did not immediately specify whether anyone had died in the landslide.

CCTV broadcast an image it said showed a firefighter working to pull a trapped villager from inside a home affected by the disaster.

Efforts under way

The local village head declined to speak about the landslide when contacted by phone, telling AFP he was "too busy."

Landslides are common in Yunnan, a far-flung region of China where steep mountain ranges butt against the Himalayan plateau.

Monday's disaster occurred in a rural area surrounded by towering peaks dusted with snow, state media footage showed.

Temperatures in Zhenxiong hovered at around minus four degrees Celsius (24.8 degrees Fahrenheit) on Monday morning, weather data showed.

There was no immediate official explanation for what may have caused the land slide.

Efforts to establish what happened are under way, Xinhua reported.

China has experienced a string of natural disasters in recent months, some following extreme weather events such as sudden, heavy downpours.

In September, rainstorms in the southern region of Guangxi triggered a mountain landslide that killed at least seven people, according to media reports.

Heavy rains sparked a similar disaster near the northern city of Xian in August, causing the deaths of more than 20 people.

And in June, a landslide in southwestern Sichuan province — also remote and mountainous — killed 19 people.