Landslide rescue work underway

"There was big noise when the landslide occurred. The ground shook once," the woman was quoted as saying by Jimu News, a Hubei-based news outlet.

According to a media release from the Ministry of Emergency Management, 812 members of the national comprehensive fire and rescue team have joined the rescue operation in Liangshui village, with the help of 174 vehicles.

In addition, 102 members of the country's national rescue team usually dedicated to workplace accidents and 33 employees with China Anneng Construction Group Corp joined the rescue operation, the media release said.

Rescuers first had to move big rocks out of the way with the help of excavators before they carried out search work in certain areas.

Li Shenglong, a firefighter from Zhenxiong county, said the big rocks posed a great challenge to the rescue operation.

Temperatures in the village dropped below 0 C on Monday, and the wind made conditions bitterly cold, he said. However, rescuers had to wear light clothing to ensure that they could move flexibly.