Five people are dead and 19 others are missing after a severe landslide early Sunday in Zigui County, central China's Hubei Province.

The accident occurred at around 0:20 a.m. in remote Qianjiangping Village of Shazhenxi Township.

Rescue work is underway and Yu Zhengsheng, secretary of the Hubei Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), and Hubei Governor Luo Qingquan went to the site Sunday afternoon to guide the rescue work.

The village is located by the Qinggan River, a tributary of the Yangtze River.

In recent days, hills around the village have shown signs of landslides and the local government began organizing the relocation of people living in the at-risk areas Saturday.

The landslide crashed into the Qinggan River, hitting 22 boats and leaving ten people missing in the river.

The landslide was about 1,200 meters long, 1,000 meters wide and 20 meters thick.

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