Mudslide death toll in China rises to three with nine others still missing after heavy rain from Typhoon Saudel

THREE people are dead and 11 are missing after devastating mudslide tore through a village in China following days of torrential rain. Shocking footage shows a huge wall of mud and debris hurtling down a hillside at terrifying speeds before smashing into homes and sending clouds of dirt billowing into the air. At least three dead and 11 missing after massive mudslide hits China More than 640 rescuers have poured into the disaster zone Credit: Getty The mudslide completely obliterated a road leading into the affected area Images showed bricks and timber from smashed homes floating through filthy floodwater The disaster struck Mingkeng Village in Gaoping Town, Suichuan County, Jiangxi Province, in the early hours of Saturday. The violent torrent damaged around a dozen houses and left a trail of destruction through the village. Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! Desperate search and rescue operations are continuing as crews scour the wreckage for survivors. More than 640 rescuers have poured into the disaster zone, battling treacherous conditions and wrecked roads to reach those still unaccounted for. Search teams reportedly found two victims on Saturday and a third victim was found on Sunday. The mudslide completely obliterated a road leading into the affected area, severely hampering the frantic rescue effort. Wan Qiang, an on-site rescuer with state-owned engineering and rescue enterprise China Anneng, said the destroyed road was making it difficult for teams to reach the stricken area. Nearly 200 villagers from Mingkeng have been evacuated to a safe site, where they are receiving food and medical care. Most read in The Sun More than 5,300 people in neighbouring areas have also been moved to safety amid fears of further disasters. The catastrophe was unleashed after days of relentless rain battered the region in the wake of Typhoon Saudel. Rescuers were forced to deploy inflatable boats through streets The violent torrent damaged around a dozen houses A staggering 161,500 people across Jiangxi have been affected by the typhoon’s punishing downpours. The Ministry of Natural Resources raised Jiangxi’s geological disaster response from Level IV to Level III on Saturday as the threat intensified. A government work team has been dispatched to the scene to help direct the rescue operation, while 20 million yuan (£2.2million) has been released from central disaster relief funds. China operates a four-tier emergency response system, with Level I representing the most severe threat. The deadly devastation has also spread beyond Jiangxi. Two people were killed in neighbouring Hunan Province following torrential downpours brought by Saudel, according to state broadcaster CCTV. The rain triggered landslides and other disasters across the region, although the precise cause of those two deaths was not specified. Saudel first slammed into Zhejiang Province on August 28 before making a third landfall as a tropical storm in Fujian Province on September 3. Both provinces neighbour Jiangxi, which has since been battered by the storm’s punishing aftermath. In Fujian, around 600,000 residents had been evacuated by Friday night as floodwaters and landslides wreaked havoc. More than 100 homes were destroyed in Huating Town, Putian, while a breached dam unleashed a torrent of floodwater into surrounding villages. Rescuers were forced to deploy inflatable boats through streets transformed into raging rivers as they searched for trapped residents. The sheer scale of the destruction has also crippled rescue efforts Credit: Shutterstock Editorial The tragic aftermath of the mudslide Credit: AFP Images showed bricks and timber from smashed homes floating through filthy floodwater, with other buildings left partially collapsed and torn open. The latest disaster comes amid a wider wave of deadly flooding across the region. Days earlier, catastrophic flash floods ripped through communities along the Nepal-Tibet border, killing more than 1,200 people – including Brits – and leaving thousands missing. Entire settlements were swallowed by torrents of water, mud and debris, leaving behind scenes of almost unimaginable devastation. The sheer scale of the destruction has also crippled rescue efforts, with landslides and obliterated roads cutting off remote communities. Hundreds of workers are believed to be trapped inside tunnels at hydropower projects in Nepal after floodwaters and landslides ripped through the sites. Around 900 workers are missing from 12 projects, with roughly 500 believed to be trapped underground. Three workers have been pulled alive from the Trishuli project in Rasuwa district since Friday. Huge boulders and surging floodwaters have blocked tunnel entrances and buried sections beneath tonnes of mud and debris. At the Trishuli facility, rescuers took six days to locate the tunnels and are now pumping air inside while desperately working to drain the floodwater. Comment now