MKsports 2025 shows the site of a landslide in Jinping Village, Junlian County in the city of Yibin, southwest China's Sichuan Province. (Photo: Xinhua)" src="https://www.globaltimes.cn/Portals/0/attachment/2025/2025-01-09/abf6b709-f429-463c-a854-9db7f7b4fb95.jpeg" />

An aerial drone photo taken on Feb. 8, 2025 shows the site of a landslide in Jinping Village, Junlian County in the city of Yibin, southwest China's Sichuan Province. Photo: Xinhua

Chinese President Xi Jinping has ordered all-out search and rescue efforts to minimize casualties after a landslide struck a village in a mountainous area of Southwest China's Sichuan Province on Saturday.

Authorities are still verifying the exact number of missing people as rescue operations continue around the clock. According to the People's Daily, as of 11 am on Sunday, the landslide that struck Jinping village, Junlian county had engulfed 10 residential buildings and one industrial facility, leading to one confirmed death, 28 unaccounted for and two injured people. 

The two injured individuals, one seriously injured and one with minor injuries, are currently receiving treatment at Junlian County People's Hospital and are not in life-threatening condition, according to officials. 

Xi urged efforts to properly handle the aftermath. He stressed strengthening monitoring and early warning, ensuring rescue work is carried out scientifically, and preventing the occurrence of secondary disasters, according to Xinhua.

All localities and relevant departments must step up efforts to uncover hidden risks related to various kinds of disasters and workplace safety, prevent the occurrence of serious and major disasters and accidents and protect people's lives and property, he said.

Chinese Vice Premier Liu Guozhong, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, rushed to the disaster site on Saturday night to guide the rescue operations and emergency response efforts, Xinhua News Agency reported.

At a meeting on Sunday, Liu called for a well-coordinated rescue operation and the deployment of advanced equipment and monitoring instruments to ensure safe rescue work. Liu also visited the injured at a local hospital on Sunday, stressing the importance of mobilizing quality medical resources to minimize casualties, the Xinhua report said.

After the disaster occurred, the local health department immediately activated its emergency response, dispatching medical personnel and ambulances to the scene for medical rescue efforts, the National Health Commission told the Global Times on Sunday. Commission officials have already traveled to the area alongside officials from the State Council to strengthen the guidance and coordination of medical treatment. 

Initial assessments suggest that the disaster was caused by recent continuous rainfall and geological conditions, leading to a high-level landslide that transformed into a debris flow, creating a debris accumulation approximately 1.2 kilometers long. The landslide is about 10 to 20 meters thick and 100 meters wide, with a volume exceeding 100,000 cubic meters.

On Sunday, a press conference was held in Yibin to provide updates on the rescue efforts. Officials said that some 200 people were evacuated, with 155 being settled in a temporary shelter set up at Junlian County Second Middle School. Rescuers have set up emergency dining facilities and provided 30 emergency generators, 100 cotton tents, 400 disaster relief beds and 1,100 cotton quilts to ensure the basic living needs of the evacuated population, including meals, accommodation and heating. Other victims have been properly settled by staying with relatives or friends.

According to The Paper, at 11 pm on Saturday, villagers at the relocation site had settled into their dormitories, with each family occupying one room, and many families were already resting. Volunteers organized by the local government distributed blankets, toiletries and other supplies.  

"Now we've settled in, it feels much more secure," The Paper quoted a villager as saying. "There are still some people who are unwilling to come down and are staying up on the mountain," said one volunteer. 

After the disaster, local authorities quickly assembled an emergency rescue team, arriving at the landslide site overnight and swiftly constructing a landslide real-scene model to support the rescue efforts. The expert team, which includes specialists in geology, monitoring, information technology, and drone operations, arrived at the site in the early hours of Sunday, equipped with slope radar, drones, and geographic surveying information systems. The expert team used drones to capture three-dimensional images of the site and generated a 3-D oblique photogrammetry model by 9 am, providing a real-time visualization of the disaster zone, enabling precise coordination of rescue operations, CCTV reported on Sunday.