Rescue crews used excavators on Sunday to comb through the rubble in search of survivors from a landslide in the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing that killed at least eight people and left another 34 missing.
Massive amounts of rocks and soil roared down a slope and buried more than 10 residential buildings early Friday in Pengshui County on the outskirts of Chongqing.
On Sunday morning, about nine rescuers were seen carrying a sealed orange bag from the scene. It was not immediately clear if a victim had been pulled out.
State broadcaster CCTV reported that all the residents staying in 21 buildings in the potential impact zone had been evacuated. Authorities carried out the evacuations from buildings on slopes and in low-lying areas within a kilometer radius of the disaster site, relocating over 1,100 people, Chongqing authorities said in a WeChat post published Sunday.
Authorities said one of 10 survivors was discharged from the hospital while the other nine were in stable condition. Eight people pulled from the rubble had died.
On Saturday, rescue crews aided by dogs and detectors found signs of life, confirming that at least one survivor was still trapped beneath the rubble. But authorities said the crews needed to carefully map out a rescue plan since a reckless excavation could risk triggering a secondary collapse, especially with the boulders at the scene.
The landslide contained about 18,000 cubic meters (635,500 cubic feet) of rocks and debris, with one boulder being around 3,000 cubic meters (106,000 cubic feet), Wang Chuanjun, head of Planning and Natural Resources in Pengshui County, told reporters Friday.
More than 120 experts were deployed to the scene to help with the operation.
The rain-triggered landslide occurred near a stretch of the Wujiang River that cuts through karst mountains peppered with small towns and terraces.
Pengshui County is located in the southeast part of Chongqing, bordering the provinces of Hubei and Guizhou.
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Leung reported from Hong Kong. Associated Press video producer Wu Jia contributed to this report.
