Chengdu, China— Four people were killed Saturday when a landslide buried a cluster of rural houses in Sichuan Province after two days of heavy rain.
The slide happened at around 3:10 a.m. local time in a remote valley in Muli County, Liangshan Prefecture. A saturated hillside above the village gave way without warning. An estimated 8,000 cubic meters of mud, rocks, and trees crashed down. Three homes built of brick and wood were buried completely.
Local villagers heard a deep rumble, then shouting. They rushed to dig with hands and shovels. The county emergency bureau was alerted at 3:35 a.m. Rescue teams arrived at 5 a.m. after navigating a damaged mountain road. Heavy machinery was brought in at dawn.
Rescuers recovered four bodies by noon. They were two elderly residents and two children from two families. Three other people were injured, one seriously. They were taken to the county hospital. Officials said the death toll could have been higher if more families had been home.
Sichuan has seen persistent rainfall since Thursday. The provincial meteorological bureau issued an orange alert for geological disasters on Friday. The village had been listed as a medium-risk zone, but no evacuation order had been issued. Residents said cracks had appeared on the slope last year.
"The ground was soaked. We told the township last year the hill was moving," one villager told local officials. His account is now part of the investigation. Officials said satellite monitoring did not show rapid deformation.
The county government has relocated 47 residents from 12 nearby houses to a local school. Geologists are assessing the slope for secondary slides. Rain is forecast to continue through Sunday. Rescue work is hampered by unstable ground and narrow access.
The Ministry of Emergency Management said it has allocated tents and supplies. The site remains unstable.
The investigation into warning procedures and relocation efforts is ongoing.
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