A landslide triggered by days of heavy rain swept through a residential area in Pengshui county, part of the Chongqing municipality in southwest China, on Friday morning, killing at least eight people and leaving 34 others missing, according to local authorities.

Emergency teams pulled 18 people from the rubble, two of whom were seriously injured, officials said at a press conference. More than 1,100 residents were evacuated from the surrounding area as a precaution. The landslide struck at approximately 9:10 a.m. local time, less than an hour after a community worker spotted rockfalls and began moving residents out of harm's way.

The slide sent rocks and mud crashing down a mountainside near the Wujiang River, burying more than ten residential buildings and severing water, electricity, and gas lines within a one-kilometre radius. China's Ministry of Emergency Management activated a Level II national response, the second highest, and dispatched over 800 rescuers, including firefighters, geologists, and search teams with specialized equipment. Operations were hindered by unstable terrain and the threat of further collapses, while weather forecasts warned of thunderstorms that could complicate the effort.

President Xi Jinping ordered an all-out search and rescue effort and called for an investigation into the cause of the disaster, urging authorities to eliminate geological risks. The central government allocated 50 million yuan (about $7.4 million) in relief funds. The incident follows a separate landslide in Gansu province earlier this month that killed 21 people, highlighting the risk of rain-induced geological disasters across China's mountainous west.

As night fell on Friday, the number of missing remained unconfirmed, with search teams working against time and weather. Local officials said the toll was provisional and that a full assessment of damage and casualties would be announced as operations progressed.