A massive landslide struck Jinping Village in Junlian County, Yibin City, southwest China’s Sichuan Province, around 11:50 a.m. Beijing Time on Saturday. The devastating event has left one person dead, injured two others, and 28 individuals remain missing, local authorities reported at a press conference on Sunday morning.
Rescue teams are working tirelessly as the landslide area remains unstable, and officials are still verifying the exact number of missing persons. Preliminary assessments suggest that continuous rainfall combined with geological conditions transformed the landslide into debris flows stretching approximately 1.2 kilometers, with an estimated total volume exceeding 100,000 cubic meters.
Over 200 residents have been evacuated from the affected areas. A makeshift shelter has been established at a local school to accommodate those displaced, with essential supplies such as 30 emergency generators, 100 cotton tents, 400 disaster relief beds, and 1,100 quilts distributed to meet their basic living needs.
By 8:00 p.m. on Saturday, a comprehensive rescue force of 949 personnel had been mobilized. This includes emergency rescue teams, armed police, firefighters, public security officers, transportation workers, medical staff, communications experts, and electricity technicians. Rescue equipment like excavators, fire engines, and ambulances have been deployed to assist in on-site operations.
The National Development and Reform Commission has allocated 50 million yuan (approximately $6.8 million) from the central budget to aid in restoring infrastructure and public facilities in the affected areas. Additionally, the Ministry of Finance, in cooperation with the Ministry of Emergency Management, has allocated 30 million yuan from central natural disaster relief funds to support Sichuan Province in organizing rapid rescue efforts.
The allocated funds will be used for search and rescue operations, risk assessments, emergency response measures, and investigating potential secondary-disaster hazards to minimize casualties. Following the landslide, the Ministry of Emergency Management launched a Level III emergency geological disaster response, while the national disaster prevention, reduction, and relief commission activated a Level IV national disaster relief emergency response.
