China landslide kills 8, 34 missing; Xi urges inspections

A landslide in Chongqing's Pengshui County on July 17 killed at least eight people and left 34 missing, local authorities reported. Over 800 rescuers were dispatched to the scene, successfully extracting 18 trapped individuals, eight of whom were pronounced dead.

State broadcaster CCTV shared footage showing a massive accumulation of rocks and dirt covering a residential and commercial street at the base of a mountain. Other clips depicted people fleeing from a dust cloud. An official noted the area's "unpredictable" steep terrain and the continued presence of dangerous rocks on the cliffside.

The government has allocated 50 million yuan (approximately $9.5 million) for natural disaster relief. President Xi Jinping called for swift determination of the disaster's cause and urged authorities to identify and eliminate geological disaster risks. This incident follows a similar landslide in Gansu province less than two weeks prior, which resulted in 21 fatalities.

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identify and eliminate geological disaster risks and other potential hazards