Rescue workers search for possible survivors among collapsed houses in Chuncheon, about 100 km (60 miles) east of Seoul, July 27, 2011. [Photo/Agencies]

SEOUL - At least nine people were killed and two were missing after a landslide triggered by heavy downpour hit a South Korean mountain resort east of Seoul early on Wednesday, local media reported.

The landslide, which took place just after midnight near the Soyang River Dam in Chuncheon, destroyed a pension and three houses.

Most of the victims were college students from Inha University in the western city of Incheon who were in the area for volunteer work, reports said.

Some 26 were injured, some of them seriously, and rescue workers are trying to reach two people believed trapped in the buildings, YTN reported.

About 600 firefighters and police have been sent to the area for the rescue operation.

Rescue workers search for possible survivors among collapsed houses in Chuncheon, about 100 km (60 miles) east of Seoul, July 27, 2011. [Photo/Agencies]