Some of the rescued workers from the Fujian landslide have recalled the frightening moment when it hit. They said they were asleep until woken up by the disaster.

“Everything was carried away by the mud, bed, even the house. The iron-sheet house rolled into the mud and became shaped like a egg,” said Yu Jingui, rescued worker.

“I could only lie on my stomach in the collapsed house. I thought I would die. It took about three hours. At half past eight, they cut the stairs with the cutting machine. About ten people lifted the steel plate, then I crawled out,” said Yang Yanbiao, rescued worker.