Xi urges utmost landslide rescue efforts

BEIJING - President Xi Jinping on Friday asked authorities to spare no efforts in searching for people left messing after a serious landslide in Southwest China's Sichuan province.

Xi said the government will also do its best to assist the families of victims, according to a statement issued by the General Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee to Xinhua.

The landslide, which took place on Wednesday morning due to continuous and severe downpours, has led to 26 deaths in a village in Dujiangyan City as of Friday afternoon. Another 123 people are either missing or have lost contact with their families.

Nearly 1,000 rescuers have been sent to the site to search for survivors and evacuate trapped villagers.

A number of temporary shelters have been set up to receive the affected villagers and their families.

The State Council has sent an expert team to supervise the rescue work in the village, the statement said.