Dean James AMERICA’S FREEDOM FIGHTERS –

At least 15 people are dead and over 140 are missing after a massive landslide buried a mountain village in southwest China.

The landslide caused huge rocks and a mass of earth to come crashing into their homes early Saturday morning.

The landslide, which came from a mountain, engulfed a cluster of 62 homes and a hotel in the village of Xinmo in Maoxin county of Sichuan province at about 6 a.m. Officials said 1 mile of roads were buried in the disaster which is hampering rescue efforts.

The area has been experiencing heavy rains which officials believe caused the massive landslide.

Rescuers pulled out three people, two of whom had survived, according to local reports. Officials also said a family of three, including a newborn baby, managed to escape just as the landslide started to hit their house.

A fourth survivor was found but rescuers were still trying to get to him.

Qiao Dashuai told CCTV that the baby saved the family because he was woken up by the child’s crying and was going to change the baby’s diaper when he heard a noise that alerted him to the landslide.

“We heard a strange noise at the back of our house, and it was rather loud,” Qiao said. “Wind was coming into the room so I wanted to close the door. When we came out, water flow swept us away instantly.” He said they struggled against the flood of water until they met medical workers who took them to a hospital. Qiao said his parents and other relatives had not been found.

Mao County (Maoxin County) is home to about 110,000 people, according to the government’s website.

The village is known locally for tourism, and Chinese reports said it was unclear if tourists were among those buried by the landslide.

Provincial police sent 500 rescuers with two dozen sniffer dogs to the site, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yq-ReVASHJM

Our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone involved.

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