At least 16 people buried following landslide in China

The country has been hit by damaging thunderstorms, leaving at least 275 people injured.

At least 16 people are still buried following a landslide in the mountainous region of China’s western province of Gansu.

A total of 33 people were initially trapped, with 17 now “successfully rescued”, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Tuesday.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has ordered an all-out effort to rescue those affected by the natural disaster, CCTV said.

While the cause of Tuesday’s landslide remained unclear, China has been hit by deadly thunderstorms this week.

China’s Xinhua news agency reports that at least eight people died after thunderstorms hit the eastern part of the central Hubei Province on Monday night. At least one person remained missing.

Strong winds and storms hit the cities of Huangshi, Huanggang, Ezhou and Xianning late on Monday evening local time, with winds reaching 149km/hour (92.58 mph).

At least 275 people had been injured by Tuesday morning local time, Xinhua reported.

Forecasters have warned of more torrential rain across ‌various parts of the country that are home to about 200 million people.

The National Meteorological Centre said the southeastern region of Guangxi and eastern provinces of Jiangsu and Shandong should brace for extremely heavy rain of up to 260mm over the next 24 hours, which can trigger landslides, with other areas to China’s northeast and south expecting tornadoes.

China is also on alert for Super Typhoon Bavi, ⁠which is making its way across the Pacific Ocean towards Taiwan. The US National Weather Service said it ⁠was packing winds of up to 290km/h (180 mph) as it made its way across Guam, Tinian, Saipan, and Rota on Monday.