Jiangxi Landslide Kills 12, Rescue Teams Hunt Last Missing Person

A devastating landslide triggered by relentless rainfall from Typhoon Shadel has killed at least 12 people in Mingkeng Village, Gaoping Town, Suichuan County in China’s Jiangxi Province. As of September 9, search operations continue for the final missing person as rescue teams work through treacherous conditions in the mountainous disaster zone.

The mudslide struck in the early morning hours of September 5, destroying 8 homes and partially damaging 4 others in the Shixia Group area of the village. According to Xinhua News, the death toll reached 12 by the evening of September 8, including one person newly identified as missing during follow-up checks.

A Village Cut Off from the World

Mingkeng Village sits at the junction of Shangyou County in Jiangxi, Suichuan County, and Guidong County in Hunan Province, approximately 80 kilometers from the Suichuan county seat. The remote mountainous terrain made rescue access extraordinarily difficult, with roads, power lines, and communications all severed by the disaster.

A Xinhua feature described how the village became an isolated outpost in the aftermath. “If the road doesn’t open, rescue equipment can’t get in,” said Wan Qiang, an on-site commander from China Anneng, encapsulating the fundamental challenge facing responders.

The disaster unfolded against the backdrop of Typhoon Shadel, the 18th named typhoon of the 2026 Pacific season. Since August 29, the storm system had affected 10 prefecture-level cities and 56 counties across Jiangxi, impacting 161,500 people. The Taoyuan Terrace Station in Zuo’an Town recorded 234.7 millimeters of rainfall, among the highest in the province.

Race Against Time in Hazardous Conditions

Rescue operations have been extraordinarily complex due to the nature of the debris. Mudslide deposits reached 4-5 meters deep and remained fluid, providing no stable footing for rescue personnel. Multiple secondary collapses forced repeated evacuations of the search area, according to China News.

By the evening of September 5, 641 rescue personnel had arrived at the scene, including firefighters, armed police, China Anneng engineers, public security officers, medical teams, and geological specialists. The Ministry of Emergency Management activated a Level IV national disaster relief response and dispatched a working group with slope radar equipment, as reported by CCTV News.

A critical breakthrough came on September 6 when the 600-meter damaged road to the core area was opened late that night after 15 hours of continuous work. China Anneng Second Engineering Bureau deployed 80 rescue personnel with 45 pieces of equipment, ultimately building 1,750 meters of road and clearing 27,000 cubic meters of debris.

Coordinated Search Intensifies

By September 8, the rescue command had divided the core area into four operational zones, deploying 12 professional teams comprising more than 170 personnel for detailed, grid-by-grid searches. The operation employed radar life detectors, search dogs, drone reconnaissance, and heavy machinery working in tandem.

“On the morning of September 8, the rescue team deployed 45 personnel and 6 sets of equipment into the core area, conducting searches at 8 house sites using multi-party coordination, personnel positioning, and zone division,” Qiao Dianfu, on-site commander from China Anneng Second Engineering Bureau, told China News.

Liu Lin of the Ganzhou Fire Rescue detachment described the search approach: “The fire rescue force stationed in Core Operation Zone 2 initially divided into two groups, using radar life detectors and search dogs for the first round of checks, and is now cooperating with large mechanical equipment for carpet-style searches.”

The geological challenges remain significant. Chu Xiaodong, deputy director of the Jiangxi Geological Survey Institute, noted that nearly 150 geological technicians deployed over 200 sets of monitoring equipment at the scene. As of noon on September 6, drone modeling showed the landslide body still carried approximately 54,000 cubic meters of residual risk, according to Xinhua News.

Broader Regional Impact

The disaster is part of a wider pattern of destruction across Jiangxi Province. A separate landslide on a road slope in Yingpanyu Township involved more than 10,000 cubic meters of material, blocking over 30 meters of road. The Yutian Bridge in Suichuan collapsed due to flood impact on September 5, though it had been pre-closed and caused no casualties.

County-wide evacuations have been extensive. By September 6, 11,968 people had been evacuated across Suichuan County, with more than 7,000 relief items distributed. Approximately 200 affected residents were housed at a guesthouse in Wuzhifeng Township, Shangyou County, where the owner converted 71 rooms and a 500-square-meter tea factory into accommodation.

The human toll extends beyond the immediate disaster zone. Zhang Xinshi, a former village party secretary of Weixi Village in neighboring Tanghu Town, was buried during a hazard inspection on September 4 and remained missing for over 50 hours, as reported by The Paper. A Tanghu Town government official, his voice choked with emotion, told reporters: “Everyone else has been transferred. We’ve been working through six or seven sleepless nights. All grassroots cadres are fighting on the front line, nearly collapsing… We’re all doing our best.”

What’s Next

As of September 9, search operations have entered a critical phase focused on the final missing person. Rescue teams are concentrating on suspected cavities, house sites, mountain crevices, and river channels, with particular attention to a river channel near Building 9 where mud has accumulated to depths exceeding 2 meters.

Suichuan County Party Secretary Luo Gang outlined the path forward: “Next, we will fully commit to searching for missing persons, treating the injured, resettling affected residents, and handling the aftermath for the deceased, while continuing to open up the lifeline rescue channel.”

The disaster underscores the devastating power of extreme weather events in mountainous terrain. Even with advance warnings issued by the Suichuan Disaster Prevention Committee on September 2 about geological hazard risks, the sheer intensity of rainfall overwhelmed preparedness measures. As rescue operations continue, the broader question of how communities in landslide-prone regions can better withstand increasingly severe typhoon-driven rainfall remains pressing.

For now, the focus remains on the search for the last missing person, with rescue teams working against time and treacherous conditions in the mountains of Jiangxi Province.