Government says 1 dead, 37 missing in south China landslide

BEIJING – A local government in southern China says 1 person has died and 37 are missing following a landslide that buried dozens of homes.

The Guizhou provincial government said on its microblog that Monday's disaster brought the side of a mountain crashing down on the homes of 34 families on the outskirts of the city of Bijie at around midday.

It said rescue teams had been dispatched along with tents, blankets and other emergency supplies.

There was no immediate word on the cause of the disaster, although southern China has been battered in recent days by a pair of typhoons bringing heavy rain that can saturate soil and leave it prone to slipping away on steep angles.

Mountainous Guizhou is one of China's poorest provinces.