2 killed, 21 missing in SW China landslide

CHENGDU - Two people have died and 21 others are missing after a rainstorm-triggered landslide in Southwest China's Sichuan province on Wednesday morning, local authorities said.

The landslide happened at around 10:30 am in the village of Sanxi in the city of Dujiangyan, flattening 11 homes. Rainstorms have been battering the city since Monday evening, according to the publicity department of the Dujiangyan Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China.

The victims were identified as a tourist and a local villager, according to sources with the Dujiangyan municipal government.

The affected area of the landslide is 2 kilometers long, with about 1.5 million cubic meters of mud, rock and debris, said Qiao Jianping, a researcher with the Institute of Mountain and Environment under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

As of 6:30 pm, 340 tourists in Sanxi Village have been moved to safe areas. Villagers nearby have also been relocated.

Rescue efforts for the missing people are underway.