Rescue teams race to Sichuan after landslide leaves 1 dead, 28 missing

China's emergency management and health authorities have deployed rescue teams and allocated funds to support Junlian county in Sichuan province, where a landslide struck at noon on Saturday, burying homes and leaving dozens missing.

By 11 am on Sunday, local authorities confirmed that 10 residential houses and one production building had been buried in Jinping village, resulting in one death, 28 people missing and two injured.

After receiving the report from the mountainous area, the Ministry of Emergency Management quickly activated a Level 3 emergency response. A team led by Wang Xiangxi, minister of emergency management, has been sent to the site, and a national comprehensive firefighting rescue team has been dispatched consisting of 345 people, 101 vehicles and eight search dogs on Saturday, the ministry said.

Additionally, the National Mine Emergency Rescue Sichuan Coal Team, comprising 26 people and four vehicles, and 45 personnel from China Anneng Construction Group Corporation with 22 sets of equipment were sent to assist with rescue operations, it said.

The Sichuan Coal Team, an emergency rescue unit supported by Sichuan Coal Huarong Energy Co, is one of China's first seven national mine emergency rescue teams and plays a key role in disaster response efforts.

To aid in rescue operations and hazard removal, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Emergency Management announced an urgent allocation of 30 million yuan ($4.12 million) for disaster relief in Sichuan province on Saturday. The National Development and Reform Commission also allocated 50 million yuan the same day for the emergency restoration of infrastructure and public service facilities in the disaster area.

The National Health Commission said on Saturday evening that it had dispatched national-level medical experts specializing in intensive care, emergency medicine and trauma from Sichuan University's West China Hospital to Jinping.

Local health authorities immediately mobilized medical personnel and vehicles for on-site rescue and treatment. The commission also sent officials to the affected region to enhance guidance and coordination of medical efforts and said it would allocate additional national-level medical personnel as needed, while stepping up psychological support for affected villagers.

The Ministry of Natural Resources quickly dispatched an expert group on Saturday, led by a vice-minister, to assist with on-site rescue efforts. The China Geological Survey, administered by the ministry, sent 12 experts to enhance automated monitoring, early warning analysis and meteorological risk assessments for the landslide, providing imaging support for emergency mapping, the ministry said.

The Sichuan department of natural resources also deployed an expert team, and officials from Yibin city and Junlian arrived to assist with emergency response operations, it added.

The Ministry of Natural Resources issued a Level 3 response for geological disaster defense at 1:10 pm Saturday and upgraded it to Level 2 by 4 pm.

By 9 am Sunday, 360 residents in Junlian had been safely evacuated, and two injured people were successfully rescued, according to state broadcaster China Central Television.

Junlian's No 2 Middle School has been designated as a temporary shelter, housing 162 people in 41 rooms. The shelter is providing safety patrols, medical care, volunteer support, psychological counseling, logistics, essential supplies and 24-hour access to hot meals and water, CCTV reported.

Preliminary analysis reports have shown that the disaster was caused by recent continuous rainfall and geological conditions, which led to a high-altitude landslide, forming a debris pile about 1.2 kilometers long.