Relief efforts are in full swing following a landslide that buried ten residential houses and one production facility, leaving 29 people missing in Junlian County of southwest China's Sichuan Province on Saturday, according to local authorities.
The landslide occurred at 11:50 in Jinping Village of the county, which is in Yibin City of the province.
Speaking at a press conference early Sunday, Xue Qing, executive vice mayor of Yibin, provided an update on disaster response, rescue operations and the evacuation of affected individuals.
"As of 24:00 on Feb 8, the landslide had buried ten residential houses and one production facility. Two injured individuals were successfully rescued -- one with critical injuries and the other with minor injuries. Both are currently being treated at the Junlian County People's Hospital, neither in life-threatening condition. Results of preliminary investigations indicate that 29 people remain missing, though the final number is still being verified," Xue said. "More than 200 people at risk have been relocated, with 155 of them evacuated to the Junlian County Second Middle School for temporary sheltering. Emergency meal stations have been set up, and 30 emergency generators, 100 tents, 400 disaster relief beds and 1,100 blankets have been provided to meet the basic needs of the evacuees, including food, shelter and heating. The remaining individuals have been safely accommodated with their relatives or friends," he said.
According to local authorities' preliminary assessment, the landslide was triggered by recent continuous rainfall and unstable geological conditions in the area. It evolved into a debris flow, resulting in a debris accumulation area approximately 1.2 kilometers long. The landslide is about 10 to 20 meters thick, 100 meters wide, and has accumulated more than 100,000 cubic meters of mud and rocks so far. It remains active.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, ordered all-out search and rescue efforts to minimize casualties after the landslide.
Xi urged efforts to properly handle the aftermath. He stressed strengthening monitoring and early warning, ensuring the rescue work is carried out scientifically, and guarding against possible occurrence of secondary disasters.
Relief efforts underway after landslide in southwest China's Sichuan leaves 29 missing
Relief efforts underway after landslide in southwest China's Sichuan leaves 29 missing
The Israeli government is set to prohibit 37 international aid organizations from operating in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank effective Jan 1, 2026, after authorities stated the groups failed to comply with stricter registration requirements, according to an Israeli media report on Tuesday.
The report from The Times of Israel cited the statement from Israel's Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism, saying that the new regulations are based on security concerns aimed at removing non-government organizations' staff allegedly linked to so-called "terrorist organizations."
The report came after the Israeli government announced the same day that it would suspend the activities of several international aid organizations, including Doctors Without Borders, in the Gaza Strip starting January 1, 2026, citing the organizations' failure to submit information on their Palestinian staff as required.
Last year, Israel rolled out new regulations on registration requiring international aid groups to provide detailed information of their staff's names, funding sources, and operation status.
On Wednesday, Israel's Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories stated that the registration mandates were necessary to prevent humanitarian supplies from being exploited by Hamas.
In an online interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN) on Wednesday, Bushra Khalidi, policy lead at Oxfam, a global organization that fights inequality to end poverty and injustice, said the impact of the ban will be "devastating."
"It is devastating. We've seen the numbers from the IPC (Integrated Food Security Phase Classification) a few weeks ago. We saw them in the summer. There's been a slight improvement, but that's not good enough for the time of a ceasefire. And six months after the famine was declared, we should have seen much more improvement in Gaza," said Khalidi.
"It's winter here in Palestine. It was raining. It rained a record (amount) of rain per millimeter yesterday in Palestine since 1992. So, the impact is devastating. But the fact that shelter materials, for example, cannot enter. For families, this will mean slower repairs. It will mean fewer supplies. It will mean a longer wait for basic services. It will directly affect the access to clean water, to sanitation, to shelter materials, to public health interventions. Aid that should be moving predictably will remain delayed, it will remain restricted and it will remain stranded," she added.
She also emphasized that the operating environment became nearly impossible for organizations to navigate long before the new ban was announced.
"We have been obstructed and blocked from operating freely and unobstructedly for the last two years by Israel. Israel has killed a record number of humanitarian workers in the last two years. It has bombed our premises, it has bombed our convoys, it has blocked our items. It has driven famine like conditions in Gaza because of blocking humanitarian access. So, I think it's really important to set that scene, is that what is happening now is nothing new. It only continues within the kind of campaign that Israel has orchestrated to drive basically the population of Gazans' survival. So, we are, we have not been able to enter any materials in since March, in fact, us and many other organizations. And of course that has severely restricted our ability to scale up our operations," said Khalidi.
Hadja Lahbib, European Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management, said on Wednesday that Israel's move is no different from cutting off lifesaving supplies for the local population, adding that the European Union has made clear that all obstacles to humanitarian access must be lifted.
Israel bans operations of 37 int'l aid groups in Gaza Strip, West Bank
