Landslide death toll rises to 11 in southwest China, 50 still missing

China's state media said the rescue operation is "extremely difficult" due to the large amount of debris at the site.

Rescuers recover a trapped victim from the rubble at the scene of a landslide in Pengshui County in southwestern China's Chongqing area on Sunday, Jul 19, 2026. (Photo: AP/Andy Wong)

24 Jul 2026 03:32AM

BEIJING: The death toll from a landslide in the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing last week has risen to 11, with 50 people still missing and 10 injured, Chinese state media reported on Thursday (Jul 23).Following torrential rain on the morning of Jul 17, part of a mountainside collapsed in Pengshui County - an area famed for its scenic nature roughly 270 kilometres (167 miles) away from downtown Chongqing. Rock and debris fell on a cluster of riverside residential buildings and businesses downhill, causing them to collapse."After multiple rounds of life detection and search, no signs of life remain," state-run Xinhua news agency said on Thursday. The onsite operation has entered the "in-depth rescue stage", it said.Specialised teams are still working to recover the remains of those unaccounted for, Xinhua said. The confirmed death toll from the collapse of the mountainside on Jul 17 previously stood at eight, with 34 reported missing.