The landslide in Puladi, a settlement in Yunnan province, was the latest of a succession of such disasters to have battered China this summer, when torrential downpours have unleashed floods and dislodged hillsides on to towns and villages.

In the worst landslide, at least 1,287 people died in Zhouqu in northwest province of Gansu after rains. More than 450 residents remain missing, probably dead. Storms in neighboring Longnan and in Sichuan province to the south killed dozens more.

Pictures from Puladi showed a swathe of the green valley covered in mud, with rescuers laying down planks across the destruction to reach a stricken village with about 100 residents, some of them workers at a small iron ore mine.

"We heard a massive noise and knew it was a mudslide," one villager, Yu Lichun, told the China News Service. "We ran and there wasn't even time to get dressed, and we ran shouting and screaming."

At least one resident died, the Xinhua news agency said. The China News Service, another state-run agency, said two were confirmed dead. At least 10 mine trucks and 21 houses were buried, Zhong Zhifang, an official helping rescue efforts, told Xinhua.

Reuters