Death toll from SW China landslide rises to 21

Rescuers search for people buried in a rain-triggered landslide in Bijie, Southwest China's Guizhou province on July 1, 2016. [Photo/Weibo]

GUIYANG -- The death toll has climbed to 20 in a landslide that hit a village in southwest China's Guizhou Province with the recovery of the bodies of nine more victims.

As of 8 a.m. Saturday, three people remained missing after intense rain triggered the landslide at around 5:30 a.m. on Friday in Pianpo Village, Dafang County, according to the local rescue headquarters.

Thirty people were buried by the debris. Seven of them were rescued alive but sustained injuries.

More than 800 soldiers and rescuers are working with excavators to search for the missing villagers.

The landslide involved more than 95,000 cubic meters of debris and covered an area of 19,000 square meters.

Rescuers search for people buried in a rain-triggered landslide in Bijie, Southwest China's Guizhou province on July 1, 2016. [Photo/Weibo]

Previous report from Xinhua

GUIYANG - Eleven people have died and a dozen remain missing after a massive landslide swept through a village in southwest China's Guizhou Province Friday morning.

A total of 30 people were buried by debris when intense rain triggered a mud-slide around 5:30 a.m. Friday in Pianpo Village, Dafang County, in the city of Bijie. Seven people were pulled alive from the debris, while 11 were pronounced dead at the scene, according to the county government.

More than 800 soldiers and rescuers are working with excavators to find the 12 people who remain missing. The landslide involved more than 95,00 cubic meters of mud flow.

Rain and storms have wreaked havoc across south China since June 27, leaving at least 34 people dead or missing nationwide, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

The Yangtze River reported its first flood peak this year on Friday.

Around 8:00 p.m. Friday, heavy rain swelled the Jushui River, a 170 km-long tributary of the Yangtze. Floods from swollen rivers forced more than 12,000 people to relocate overnight, the Hubei provincial disaster relief headquarters said.

Nationwide, 133 counties in 11 provincial-level regions -- including the provinces of Hubei, Jiangsu and Zhejiang -- have reported floods, landslides or mud flows. Some 120,000 people have been displaced and 40,000 are in need of aid.

More than 3,600 homes collapsed and 19,900 hectares of crops destroyed. Direct economic losses hit 3.14 billion yuan (about 471.6 million U.S. dollars), the ministry said.

The weather authority on Friday again forecast heavy rain and warned of severe floods in parts of Anhui, Hunan, Guizhou and Tibet from Friday night through Saturday.

The National Meteorological Center and the Ministry of Water Resources asked local authorities to monitor weather and take all necessary precautions.