Rescuers use a heavy duty machine to clear rubble to search for trapped victims at the scene of a landslide in Pengshui county, Southwestern China’s Chongqing Municipality on July 19, 2026. Photo: VCG
Rescuers searching the site of a landslide in Pengshui county, Southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality, have found suspected human remains inside and around the wreckage of a passenger minibus buried in the disaster, and DNA testing is underway to confirm the identities of the victims, China Central Television (CCTV) News reported on Monday.
Earlier, a video shared in a local residents’ chat group showed a different angle of the disaster: A rural passenger minibus traveling between Datong township to other destinations had made a stop at a station roughly 100 meters from the landslide zone. A passenger who had gotten off prior to the incident watched helplessly as the fully loaded bus was engulfed by falling rocks and mud while traversing the collapsed section, according to a report by Henan Business Daily.
Staff members from Pengshui Shatuo Passenger Transport Station said that the minibus remains unaccounted for, and the exact number of passengers on board has yet to be confirmed. The company’s head rushed to the site after the incident, with further details pending an official announcement, per the report.
Multiple rounds of blasting have been carried out on massive boulders at the disaster site tolower risks to rescuers and reduce the threat of secondary disasters. Several search and rescue zones have been further expanded, where professional rescue crews and heavy equipment are conducting round-the-clock search and screening operations, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
By July 24, three more victims had been recovered. Search and rescue operations are still pressing ahead intensively and in an orderly fashion. Local authorities stated a day earlier that the mountain collapse had killed 11 people, left 50 missing and injured 10 others, according to Xinhua.
Global Times