140 Missing After Huge Landslide in Sichuan

More than 140 people are missing and feared to have been buried under debris following a landslide in China.

According to the government of Mao county in Sichuan province the landslide from a mountain fell onto the village of Xinmo at about 6am (10pm BST) on Saturday, destroying some 40 homes.

A search and rescue operation is currently underway to find survivors.

The landslide unleashed huge rocks and mounds of earth on the village.

A local rescue official estimated 105 million cubic feet (3 million cubic metres) of earth and rock - enough to fill more than 1,000 Olympic swimming pools - had slid down the mountain.

Rescuers pulled three people, two of who had survived, from the rubble, while a family of three, including a baby who was just weeks old, managed to escape as the landslide began to hit their home.

The landslide also blocked a one mile (1.6km) stretch of road and 1.25 mile (2km) stretch of a river.