Forty-one people are missing and a search and rescue operation is continuing after the landslide in Taining County in east China’s Fujian province.

Armed Police Force officers help evacuate stranded local people in the wake of a massive landslide which trapped more than 40 people in Sanming, Fujian province, on Sunday. ZE XIN / FOR CHINA DAILY

Earlier in the day, signs of life were detected in three places. Now only one spot remains, which has become the main focus of the rescue operation.

The conditions at the site mean large equipment are required to help with the rescue and more than 500 personnel have been deployed to join the search. Continuing rain has raised fears of a secondary landslide. The disaster occurred Sunday morning, when 100,000 cubic meters of mud and rocks buried the construction site for a hydropower station.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for all-out rescue efforts..