RESCUE EFFORTS

The Bailong River, which runs through the county seat, overflowed after being blocked by landslide and a large body of slow-moving water had engulfed Chengguan Township.

More than 300 homes in Yueyuan Village had been buried, with the number of casualties still unknown, Mao said.

Rescuers are searching for survivors.

The mud-rock flow has leveled an area of about 5 km long and 500 meters wide in the county seat with about 1.8 million cubic meters of mud and rocks. More than 20,000 people have been affected.

Sludge as deep as two meters spread across some major roads in the county, driving many trapped residents atop buildings.

"Torrential rains began to fall at around 10 p.m. Saturday. Then there were mudslides and many people became trapped. Now sludge has become the biggest hinderance to rescue operations. It's too thick to walk or drive through," said Diemujiangteng, head of the county.

"Since excavators can't reach the site, we can only use spades and our hands to rescue the buried," said He Youxin, an officer with the Gannan branch of the Gansu Headquarters of Chinese People's Armed Police Force.

His rescue team has saved 23 people and recovered 15 bodies. But, "It's very hard to locate the people washed away by floods. It's hard to say what their chances of survival are," he said.

The PLA (People's Liberation Army) Lanzhou Military Area Command has sent 2,560 soldiers to the landsldie-hit region. The Ministry of Public Security has sent 1,780 policemen and fire fighters with life detectors and rubber rafts to join in the rescue operation.