Rescuers search for 90 missing in latest China landslide as heavy rains loom on horizon

China landslide leaves 1 dead, 90 missing

BEIJING — Rescuers dug through the debris of China’s latest landslide Thursday in a search for at least 90 people thought buried when a wall of mud crashed into their mountain town in southwestern China.

Wednesday’s landslide in Puladi township in Yunnan province killed 1 person, covered homes and cut off roads in the area, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. More than 1,000 rescuers were working to find the missing, though fresh rains expected over the next two days could hamper their efforts.

The slide tore away a bridge on the Nujiang river, which saw its water level surge by 19 feet (6 meters), Xinhua said. The total damage from the disaster was estimated at $20 million.

China regularly suffers devastating summer floods, but this year has been the worst in a decade, with towns washed away in the northeast and northwest of the country. The storms have caused tens of billions of dollars in damage.

More rains are expected to hit all across China over in the coming days, with heavy rains forecast for Sichuan, Yunnan, Gansu, Shandong, Liaoning, Shaanxi, and Henan provinces, the Central Meteorological Station said.

China’s State Flood Control and Drought Prevention Headquarters warned provinces bracing for heavy rains to step up efforts for flood and mudslide prevention — especially in rural, mountainous regions.

The worst recent landslides have been in Zhouqu in Gansu, where at least 1,287 people were killed as a mudslide crashed through the city on Aug. 8. The government says another 457 people are missing from that disaster.