Over 100 people Feared Buried In China Landslide

Beijing: Around 100 people are feared buried after a landslide smashed through their village in southwest China's Sichuan Province early on Saturday.

Some 40 homes in the village of Xinmo were swallowed by the cascading debris after the side of a mountain collapsed, blocking a two kilometre stretch of river, according to a statement from the Maoxian government news office. An emergency response "to the first class catastrophic geological disaster" is under way, the statement said, adding that the full extent of the landslide was at yet unclear.

The landslide from a high part of a mountain in Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture of Aba fell on to Xinmo Village at about 6am.

Landslides are a frequent danger in rural and mountainous parts of China, particularly at times of heavy rains. At least 12 people were killed in January when a landslide smashed into a hotel in central Hubei province.