Rescue operations are currently underway in the mountainous province of Yunnan, situated in southwestern China, where a landslide has engulfed at least 47 people.
According to the state news agency Xinhua, the catastrophe occurred just before 6 a.m. (22:00 GMT on Sunday) in the village of Liangshui, located beneath Tangfang in Zhenxiong County.
According to authorities, rescuers were searching 18 separate residences for victims who were buried there. As reported by Xinhua, men wearing orange jumpsuits and hard hats were captured on camera navigating through mounds of twisted steel and concrete blocks. Snow was present on a portion of the debris and the remaining walls.
Initially, the origin of the landslide remained unknown.
Approximately 500 individuals, according to authorities, had been evacuated.
In the desolate region of Yunnan, China, where steep mountain ranges protrude into the Himalayan Plateau, landslides are frequent.
A series of natural catastrophes have beset China in recent months. Yunnan is one of several southern provinces enduring a cold wave with temperatures near or below zero.
A month after a magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck the northwest between the provinces of Gansu and Qinghai, killing at least 149 people and triggering severe mudslides, the landslide occurred.
Over 14,000 dwellings were destroyed, and nearly a thousand individuals were injured.
It was also the deadliest earthquake to strike China in nine years.
