Sichuan landslide claims five lives

Five people were killed and two were injured after a mountain landslide hit a village on Saturday in Chengxiang township of Tianquan county, Sichuan province, local authorities said.

The landslide occurred at around 1:25 pm at a section of National Highway 318 in Longwei village.

Approximately 10,000 cubic meters of debris slid down the mountains and blocked about 50 meters of the highway, burying three trucks and one motorcycle, according to the authorities.

After the disaster, an emergency response command center was established to coordinate rescue and relief operations. Machinery, search dogs, and drones were used to search for the missing, while slope radars, laser monitoring systems, and additional drones were deployed to monitor geological hazards.

As of Tuesday morning, the rescue operation had been completed, and the highway section blocked by debris had been reopened, the authorities said.