Rescuers dragged seven people from the soil with three suffering from minor injuries.
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At least 59 people are missing after a landslide buried 22 buildings in an industrial park in south China on Sunday, according to state news agency Xinhua.
More than 900 people were rescued in the ordeal in the city of Shenzhen, which has twisted homes and factories into grotesque shapes.
One of the buildings buried included two workers’ dormitories.
It was unclear whether there had been any fatalities and CCTV did not elaborate on the people it said were missing.
The initial landslide sparked an explosion in a section of a natural gas pipeline owned by PetroChina, the country’s top oil and gas producer.
Another eyewitness told the local daily Shenzhen Evening News that he saw the van his father was driving buried by the earth and mud and no sign has been found of either the vehicle or his father.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang have ordered immediate rescue efforts saying that no efforts should be spared to save lives.
Xi ordered Guangdong and Shenzhen authorities to do everything possible to minimize casualties, treat the injured and comfort the family members of the victims.
He also said scientific rescue efforts are needed to prevent further damage.
‘I saw red earth and mud running towards the company building, ‘ one local worker was quoted by Xinhua as saying.
Ren Jiguang, deputy chief of Shenzhen’s public security bureau, told CCTV that most people had been evacuated beforehand.
According to reports from the scene in The Beijing Youth Daily, the soil that came loose had been dug up in the past two years in construction work, and was piled up nearby. State media carried photos of partially collapsed buildings which, rescuers said, were housing 15 companies.
In November, at least 25 people were killed in a landslide in China’s Zhejiang province.
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The cause of the landslide was unclear but a probe was underway.
