Two confirmed dead in southwest China landslide UPDATED

Two people, previously reported missing, have been found and confirmed dead after a landslide struck southwest China's Yunnan Province, local authorities said Monday.

The landslide hit Liangshui Village in the city of Zhaotong at around 6 a.m. on January 22, which led to 47 people missing, according to local headquarters for disaster relief, Xinhua reports.

More than 200 rescuers, together with 33 firefighting vehicles and 10 loading machines, are combing through the debris to search for the missing people. Over 200 residents have been evacuated to safer places.

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A landslide in southwestern China’s mountainous Yunnan province early January 22 buried 47 people and forced the evacuation of 200 more.

The disaster struck just before 6 a.m. in the village of Liangshui, under the town of Tangfang in Zhenxiong County. The county publicity department said rescue efforts were underway to find victims buried in 18 separate houses, AP reports.

There were no immediate reports of deaths or injuries. The cause of the landslide wasn’t immediately known, although photos from the scene appeared to show snow on the ground.

The landslide came just over a month after China’s most powerful earthquake in years struck to the northwest in a remote region between Gansu and Qinghai provinces. At least 149 people were killed in the 6.2-magnitude temblor that struck on Dec. 18, reducing homes to rubble and triggering heavy mudslides that inundated two villages in Qinghai province.

Nearly 1,000 were injured and more than 14,000 homes were destroyed in China’s deadliest earthquake in nine years.