More than 140 people are feared buried by a ‘catastrophic’ landslide that unleashed huge rocks and a mass of earth that crashed into their homes in southwestern China early Saturday, a county government said.

The landslide from a mountain engulfed the village of Xinmo at about 6 am (local time), burying an estimated 40 homes, the government of Mao County in Sichuan province said.

The landslide also blocked a two-kilometre-section of a river.

Wang Yongbo, a local rescue official, told state broadcaster CCTV that an estimated 3 million cubic metres of earth and rock had slid down the mountain.

Photos posted on the site showed an area buried by earth and massive rocks.

Emergency responders helped a woman by the road.

JUST IN:141 people missing after landslide destroyed 46 homes in village of SW China's Sichuan; 2km of river blocked https://t.co/BRo10oFkbF pic.twitter.com/gyqMaH9l9e

— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) June 24, 2017

Search and rescue efforts were underway involving more than 400 rescuers, including police. CCTV showed footage of rescuers using a couple of earth movers but also relying on ropes to pull at huge rocks.

Mao County, or Maoxian, is home to about 110,000 people, according to the government’s website.

Most residents are of the Qiang ethnic minority.

The village is known locally for tourism and featured a hotel, and Chinese reports said it was unclear if tourists were among the people buried by the landslide.