Landslide at mine in China’s Sichuan province kills 19

BEIJING - A landslide at a mine in China’s south-western Sichuan province on Sunday killed 19 people, Chinese state media outlet CCTV reported.

The landslide occurred at around 6am in a mountainous area near Leshan city in the south of the province. The mountainside collapsed onto the production and living facilities of a local mining company, CCTV added.

Leshan was hit by heavy rain over the two days before the incident, weather data indicated.

The site is in a mountainous region about 240km from the provincial capital of Chengdu.

Landslides are a frequent danger in rural and mountainous parts of China, particularly during the rainy summer months.

An official in Jinkouhe’s publicity department declined to give further comment on Sunday’s landslide.

The settlement of around 40,000 people lies between verdant mountains and a wide river and its economy largely runs on forestry, power generation, agriculture and other industries.

Densely forested, much of Sichuan is particularly prone to disasters.

Extreme weather triggered a series of landslides in the province in 2017, including one that completely buried the mountain village of Xinmo, entombing more than 60 homes.

In 2019, massive rain again caused a slew of landslides, including one that buried a section of railway under repair and those working on it.

The province is also seismically active and periodically experiences deadly earthquakes.

A 7.9-magnitude quake in 2008 left more than 87,000 people dead or missing, including 5,335 school pupils. AFP, REUTERS