59 missing from landslide that buried buildings in China

This image made from video released by China Central Television (CCTV) shows rescuers searching for survivors following a landslide in Shenzhen, in south China’s Guangdong province, Sunday, Dec. 20, 2015. The landslide collapsed and buried buildings at and around an industrial park in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen on Sunday, authorities reported. AP

BEIJING — At least 59 people were missing Monday, a day after a massive landslide buried dozens of buildings when it swept through an industrial park in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen.

The official Xinhua news Agency said the landslide buried 33 buildings in the industrial park in Shenzhen, a major manufacturing center in Guangdong province across the border from Hong Kong.

Shenzhen’s public security bureau posted a notice online Monday saying that at least 59 people were missing. No deaths were reported.

READ: Death toll in Quezon landslide rises to 4

Xinhua said an area of more than 60,000 square meters (650,000 square feet) was covered with up to 6 meters (20 feet) of mud, according to geological experts at the site.

Li Yikang, the deputy secretary general of the Shenzhen city government, said at a televised news conference that more than 900 people had been evacuated. He said that nearly 1,500 people were involved in rescue efforts.

State broadcaster China Central Television, or CCTV, said that there was a residential area next to the industrial zone, and that the buildings buried included two workers’ dormitories.

Ren Jiguang, the deputy chief of Shenzhen’s public security bureau, told CCTV that most people had been moved to safety before the landslide hit.

The Beijing Youth Daily, citing a local resident, reported that the soil that slid down onto the area had been piled up against a 100-meter (110-yard) -high hill after being dug up in the past two years in construction work.

State media carried photos of what looked like at least one five-story building leaning over and partly crumpled in the industrial park, and a sea of brown soil covering a vast area around it.

READ: Update: Landslide in Myanmar kills about 100; many others missing