Chengdu, China— A rain-soaked slope above Provincial Highway 350 near Ya’an collapsed at 7:25 a.m. Tuesday, sending rock and mud onto a 14-seat minibus and pushing it 30 meters down a ravine, killing four passengers.
The minibus was carrying 11 people from Kangding to Ya’an, mostly farmers heading to market. Heavy overnight rain loosened the slope that had been cracked during summer roadworks. A 50-meter-wide slab slid without warning, hitting the middle of the vehicle.
Four passengers in the rear seats were crushed and died at the scene. Six others suffered fractures and were pulled from the wreckage by road maintenance workers. The driver escaped with minor injuries and called for help.
"The mountain made a deep sound, then rocks came. The bus tilted and fell. Dust covered everything," said a survivor, Luo Qiang, 52, who was thrown clear and broke his leg.
Highway maintenance crews and firefighters used excavators and ropes to reach the bus, which landed on its side against trees. The road was blocked by an estimated 800 cubic meters of debris. Traffic was diverted via a county road, adding three hours.
Sichuan’s western highways cut through steep, geologically unstable terrain. Landslides are frequent in autumn when monsoon moisture saturates slopes. The provincial transport department had issued a yellow landslide warning for that section Monday night.
"The slope had no netting. Cracks were visible last week but not closed. The minibus was in the wrong place at the wrong second," a highway engineer said at the site. He asked not to be named pending an official report.
The injured were taken to Ya’an People’s Hospital. Doctors said two were in serious condition.
The transport department said it would inspect 20 high-risk slopes along the route and install temporary steel barriers.
Search and cleanup will continue through Wednesday before the road is reopened to one lane.
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