Due to continuous heavy rainfall, a landslide hits Suichuan county, Jiangxi Province on September 4, 2026. Photo: IC

A landslide triggered by Typhoon Saudel in Suichuan County, East China's Jiangxi Province, has claimed at least three lives, with nine people remaining missing in the hard-hit village of Mingkeng as of press time, while other villages were also struck by multiple landslides, leaving two people missing in Yangfen village neighboring Mingkeng, the Suichuan county local government told the Global Times.

Social media has been flooded with photos and videos illustrating the impact of the natural disaster on local villages in East China, as well as the all-out rescue efforts mounted by local governments across an affected area exceeding at least 30,000 square meters. 

A report by China Central Television (CCTV) on Sunday afternoon stated that one missing individual was recovered from collapsed structures in Mingkeng Village on Sunday morning showing no signs of life.
A video clip posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo showed a patch of land carrying a building structure separating from the hillside and sliding down with the mudslide. In the video, a girl can be heard screaming as her grandmother was carried away by the sliding earth.

The Global Times reached the Suichuan county government on Sunday afternoon. A working staff told the reporter that basically all county-level officials are engaging the rescue. She confirmed apart from the hard-hit Mingkeng village, several other villages including Yangfen village were affected. 

Previous information showed that 39 have been evacuated after the landslide in the village of Mingkeng on Friday, with more than 640 rescue personnel deployed to the site as of 10:00 pm Saturday, local authorities said at a press conference.

According to the county's flood control and drought relief headquarters, the mudslide damaged 12 homes as of Saturday evening, completely destroying eight and inflicting partial damage on four.

By Saturday night, roads within the affected area have largely been restored, and emergency communications have been established in Mingkeng village. However, the road leading from the county seat to Mingkeng, which was blocked by a landslide and mudflow, still requires further effort to clear, according to Xinhua News Agency.

According to official briefings on late Saturday, relevant national ministries and commissions immediately dispatched expert work groups to the scene to guide rescue efforts following the disaster, with government departments at all levels activating corresponding emergency responses. 

Experts from Jiangxi provincial and municipal natural resources departments are providing specialized guidance. Equipping themselves with professional search and rescue gear and heavy machinery, emergency response forces are conducting risk assessments of surrounding mountains, riverbeds, and roads while establishing safety cordons to prevent secondary disasters, per Xinhua.

A total of 5,339 residents across the county have been evacuated to safety, the report said. Local authorities said it will focus on searching for the missing, treating the injured, handling post-disaster care.

The devastating mudslide in Suichuan comes against the background of days of torrential rain brought by Typhoon Saudel.

Previous information showed that typhoon activity is expected to remain relatively active in September. The consultation forecast that five to seven typhoons will form over the western North Pacific and the South China Sea this month, more than the average for the same period.