Footage posted on social media by a local broadcaster showed emergency workers in orange jumpsuits and helmets picking through piles of collapsed masonry amid towering mountains dusted with snow.

Beijing: At least 47 people were buried in a landslide that struck southwest China’s Yunnan province on Monday. The disaster happened in the Liangshui village of Zhaotong city at 5:51 am Beijing time, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

State broadcaster CCTV said a preliminary investigation showed 44 people from 18 households had been buried in the landslide. More than 200 people have been “urgently evacuated” from the region, CCTV reported. The cause of the landslide was not immediately known.

Footage posted on social media by a local broadcaster showed emergency workers in orange jumpsuits and helmets picking through piles of collapsed masonry amid towering mountains dusted with snow.

47 villagers were buried in a landslide that occurred in Zhenxiong County of Zhaotong City, southwest China’s Yunnan Province on early Monday, local authorities said. A search and rescue operation is currently underway. pic.twitter.com/ugDPG8XiMA

— People’s Daily, China (@PDChina) January 22, 2024

Local weather forecast said there will be light snow in the town on Tuesday, with the lowest temperature expected to reach -3 degrees Celsius, the report said.