About 200 residents have been evacuated to safety after a landslide hit southwest China's Sichuan Province on Saturday.
The disaster struck at around 11:50 in Jinping Village, Junlian County, in the city of Yibin. It buried 10 houses and left more than 30 people missing.
So far, two people have been rescued in the afternoon.
In response to the emergency, China's Ministry of Emergency Management swiftly initiated a high-level geological disaster emergency response. A working group, led by ministry officials, was dispatched to the scene to guide rescue operations.
A total of 443 rescuers from the Sichuan Provincial Fire Rescue Corps were mobilized in eight teams to the site for rescue operations. Armed police officers from the Sichuan Provincial Corps of the People's Armed Police Force (PAPF) arrived at the landslide site by 16:00.
China's National Development and Reform Commission has allocated 50 million yuan (about 6.9 million U.S. dollars) from the central budget to support the emergency restoration of infrastructure and public service facilities in the affected areas.
Additionally, China's Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Emergency Management urgently pre-allocated 30 million yuan (about 4.1 million U.S. dollars) in central natural disaster relief funds to support Sichuan in conducting rescue operations and minimizing casualties.
Around 200 residents relocated after landslide in Sichuan
China's summer box office has surpassed 11 billion yuan (about 1.64 billion U.S. dollars) as of Friday evening, driven by a diverse mix of domestic and imported titles.
According to the latest data from online platforms, daily box office has exceeded 100 million yuan for 42 consecutive days. The summer movie season has drawn over 300 million moviegoers across more than 35 million screenings, with momentum continuing to build as new films hit theaters.
Although the summer movie season is drawing to a close, theaters in Beijing remain bustling, with many moviegoers reporting multiple visits this summer.
"I'm here today to watch The Odyssey. I watched Once Upon a Time in the Middle East a couple of days ago. It was really, really good," said a moviegoer.
This summer's movie season has featured more than 120 Chinese and foreign films, offering a rich variety of fresh themes and genres including war epics, sci-fi adventures, crime thrillers, and traditional Chinese-style animation, providing a wide range of choices for audiences with diverse tastes.
Kung Fu Soccer, All Wishes Come True, and Spider-Man: Brand New Day currently rank as the top three box office hits of this season. The anti-war and food-themed film Once Upon a Time in the Middle East has seen steadily rising critical acclaim and box office.
The comedy-mystery animated film Mystery of Chang'an is set to officially premiere on August 22, offering audiences an audiovisual experience that blends Eastern aesthetics with a wealth of imaginative ideas.
"The film actually has quite a lot of elements to it, like fantasy, suspense, adventure, crime-solving, and comedy," said Li Yingying, the film's producer.
In addition, imported films such as the thriller-adventure The End of Oak Street and the 4K restored version of the cinematic classic The Shawshank Redemption are also set to premiere in August, further enriching the summer movie lineup.
Industry insiders say that with several new releases poised to hit theaters in the coming weeks, this year's summer movie season is expected to close on a strong note, laying a solid foundation for the steady and positive growth of the film market throughout the year.
Diverse film lineup drives China's summer box office past 11 billion yuan
