At least 53 missing in Chinese landslide

At least 53 people are missing after a landslide hit a county in Sichuan province in China’s south-west, according to state media.

The official Xinhua News Agency said today that the landslide was triggered by heavy rain in Kangding county. It did not immediately give any other details.

Heavy rains and floods have hit several areas of China in the last month, with 15 hikers killed two weeks ago when they were trapped in a canyon near Chongqing, also in south-western China.

The Xinhua News Agency said later that the Ministry of Civil Affairs had confirmed four people were killed in the landslide.

An official with the Kangding Public Security Bureau who would only give her surname, Liu, said the landslide occurred early today in Kangding’s Guza township and that rescue work was ongoing.