At least two people have died and seven others injured following a rain-triggered landslide in the Baiyun district of Guangzhou on Wednesday morning, multiple media outlets have reported.
The landslide struck Dayuan village – located in the mountainous northern part of the city – at around 8:30 am, damaging multiple houses and trapping 14 people. By Wednesday evening, nine of them had been pulled from the debris. Two of those rescued were later confirmed dead.
The search continued on Thursday for the five remaining individuals, with 153 firefighters working through the night amid concerns of further landslides.
Torrential rainfall has lashed much of Guangdong Province this week, triggering floods, disrupting transport and prompting mass evacuations. By Wednesday morning, more than 75,700 people had been evacuated.
[See more: Extreme weather has caused severe flooding in southern China]
Guangzhou endured its heaviest rainfall of the year between Saturday and Wednesday, according to meteorological authorities. Data showed that the downpour was the province’s fifth most intense since 2000.
The impact on transport has been severe. Thousands of high-speed rail passengers en route to Guangdong were recently stranded in Hunan Province due to line closures.
On Wednesday, China Railway Guangzhou Group resumed some services, including routes between Beijing, Guangzhou and Hong Kong, as well as lines to Shenzhen and Hangzhou. The group has also been operating special trains to relocate stranded travellers – most of them from Chenzhou, Changsha, Hengyang and Leiyang – to safer locations.
